Shepard 


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•  HARPOOT 


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■40' 


V 


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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


\ 


GIFT  OF 

FUNDA9AO 
CALOUSTE  GULBENKIAN 


DR.  FRED  DOUGLAS  SHEPARD 


"  SHEPARD    OF    AINTAB  " 


SHEPARD   OF   AINTAB 


BY 


ALICE  SHEPARD   RIGGS 


INTERCHURCH   PRESS 
NEW  YORK 


COPTRIOHT,   1920,  BY 

INTBRCHUKCH  WORLD  MOVEMENT 
OP  NORTH  AMERICA 


^n^lo 


i 


LORRIN    ANDREWS    SHEPARD 

WHO  HAS  TAKEN  UP  THE 
NOBLE  TASK  WHERE  HIS 
FATHER     LAID     IT     DOWN 


<c«coo 


CONTENTS 

PAOB 

Preface    

»             •              • 

• 

1 

Prelude    

•             • 

IX 

CHAPTBR 

I. 

Boyhood  and  Youth 

»              •             • 

1 

II. 

The  Spring  of  Healing  . 

t             •              • 

21 

III. 

Miracles  of  the  Surgeoi 

si's  Knife 

43 

IV. 

The  Hospital     . 

»              •              • 

63 

V. 

Horses  and  Bandits 

>             •             • 

81 

VI. 

Facing  the  Mob 

»             •              • 

105 

VII. 

Summer    Outings    and 

Hunting 

Trips 

»             •             • 

127 

VIII. 

A  Friend  to  All 

I             •             • 

149 

IX. 

All  Things  to  All  Men  . 

»             •             • 

165 

X. 

Tragedies  of  the  War     . 

»             •              • 

183 

Postlude 

9                             •                             • 

199 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

Fred  Douglas  Shepard,  M.D.  .       .     Frontispiece 

FACING 

The  Examination 36 

Writing  the  Prescription        ....  36 

The  Black  Walls  of  Diarbekir     ...  52 

A    Glimpse    of   Aintab,    Central    Turkey 

College 52 

Dr.  Caroline  Hamilton  and  an  Armful  of 

Patients 68 

Dr.  Shepard  at  the  Home-Made  Operating- 
Table        68 

Dr.  Shepard  and  a  Favorite  Horse       .        .  84 

A  Horse  Is  Useful  in  Fording  a  River  .       .  84 

Waiting  for  Soup  at  the  Hospital  Soup- 

KlTCHEN 116 

Dr.  Shepard  Climbing  a  Mountain  of  Asi- 
atic Turkey 132 

Kurdish  Patients 156 

A.  Kurdish  Home 156 


PREFACE 

There  is  nothing  which  so  stirs  the  blood  and 
inspires  one  with  the  desire  to  live  a  life  that 
shall  count  for  something  as  reading  the  life  of 
a  man  who  so  lived.  The  new  glimpses  of  my 
father's  life,  coming  to  me  from  one  and  another 
of  those  whose  lives  he  touched,  have  brought  new 
inspiration  as  I  have  woven  them,  together  with 
my  own  memories,  into  the  story  told  in  this 
volume. 

It  would  be  impossible  in  a  short  preface  to 
acknowledge  my  indebtness  to  all  who  have  helped 
in  the  preparation  of  this  book.  Much  of  the 
material  has  been  taken  from  the  briefer  sketch 
bearing  the  same  title,  issued  by  the  American 
Board,  and  written  by  Mr.  Fred  B.  Goodsell,  one 
of  Dr.  Shepard's  younger  associates.  Other  asso- 
ciates who  have  furnished  many  facts  and  inci- 
dents are  Dr.  Caroline  F.  Hamilton,  Mrs.  Isabel 
Trowbridge  Merrill,  Miss  Isabel  Blake,  and  Mrs. 
Alice  Bewer  Daghlian.  The  stories  told  in  the 
words   of  an  Armenian  friend  were   furnished 

• 
IX 


X  PREFACE 

by  Mr.  Arslanian,  a  graduate  of  Central  Turkey 
College. 

The  tales  told  of  the  real  boy  and  the  heroic 
struggle  of  the  young  man  for  an  education  have 
been  made  possible  by  the  early  memories  of  Dr. 
Shepard's  younger  sister,  Mrs.  Alice  Shepard 
Fuller,  supplemented  by  the  later  memories  of 
my  mother.  Indeed,  my  mother  has  not  only  fur- 
nished many  facts  which  could  have  been  secured 
in  no  other  way,  but  has  patiently  listened  to  a 
reading  of  the  whole  manuscript,  correcting  and 
enriching  it  throughout. 

The  out-of-door  stories  of  hunting  and  camp- 
ing have  been  furnished  by  my  brother,  Dr.  Lorrin 
Shepard,  who  was  his  father's  companion  in  these 
recreations  and  who  listened  to  the  inimitable 
yams  told  by  him  of  his  own  boyhood  days. 

Much  of  the  material  of  the  book  has  been  taken 
from  the  doctor's  own  words  in  letters,  hospital 
reports,  and  other  accounts  of  his  work.  The 
^^Postlude"  is  quoted  from  the  Missionary 
Herald, 

But  the  truest  and  most  lasting  record  of  the 
life  of  ^^  Shepard  of  Aintab"  is  written  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people  of  Asia  Minor,  with  whom 
the  name  ^^Shippet,"  as  they  pronounced  it,  is 


PREFACE  xi 

revered  alike  by  all  races  and  creeds.  To  those 
■vfho  knew  him,  any  attempt  to  picture  a  life  so 
vividly  alive  must  seem  futile ;  but  if  this  simple 
story  of  a  consecrated  life  shall  inspire  others 
to  undertake  similar  great  tasks  abroad  for  the 
King,  the  purpose  of  the  book  will  have  been 
attained. 

Alice  Shepaed  Biggs. 

Newton  Centbe,  Mass. 
March  23,  1920. 


PRELUDE 

IT  was  to  be  the  biggest  affair  of  the  kind  that 
the  city  of  Aintab  had  ever  seen,  and  the  city 
of  Aintab  was  given  to  affairs  of  the  kind. 
Protestants,  Gregorians,  Catholics,  and  Moslems 
for  once  had  all  joined  forces  to  make  the  affair 
a  success.  Twenty-five  years  before,  on  October 
10, 1882,  Dr.  Shepard  had  ridden  into  Aintab  with 
his  bride.  There  was  to  be  a  big  celebration  in 
the  church,  with  a  private  dinner  afterward  in 
the  fine  new  dispensary  building.  Rngs,  pictures, 
and  flowers,  brought  from  the  missionaries' 
homes,  decorated  the  halls  and  rooms,  which  had 
been  thrown  open  to  make  one  huge  salon.  The 
missionaries,  the  college  faculty  and  their  wives, 
the  pastors,  and  several  doctors  were  the  invited 
guests.  There  would  be  after-dinner  speeches, 
and  the  toastmaster  had  a  surprise  up  his  sleeve, 
for  he  intended  to  propose  raising  a  fund  for  the 
new  wing  of  the  main  hospital  building,  and  to 
start  a  subscription  then  and  there.  The  people 
of  the  city  were  busy  raising  an  anniversary 

•  •  • 
XIU 


xiv  PRELUDE 

fund  to  go  toward  an  endowed  bed  in  the  hospital, 
and  the  Moslems  were  trying  to  get  a  decoration 
from  the  Sultan  to  be  presented  to  the  man  for 
whom  these  various  honors  were  planned. 

Finally,  the  preparations  were  completed  and 
the  city  fairly  caught  its  breath,  waiting  for  the 
glorious  morrow.  But  that  evening  came  a  tele- 
gram for  Dr.  Shepard,  calling  him  to  a  Moslem 
patient  in  Aleppo.  **That  man's  life  is  worth 
more  than  all  this  celebration,"  said  the  doctor, 
as  he  mounted  his  good  horse  and  was  off.  The 
celebration  waited. 

One  week  later,  on  October  17,  1907,  the  doors 
of  the  largest  Protestant  church  in  the  city  were 
thrown  open.  Crowds  of  all  races  and  creeds, 
who  had  been  waiting  outside  for  hours,  surged 
in,  packing  themselves  like  sardines  on  the  car- 
peted floor, — the  men  on  one  side  of  the  railing 
down  the  center  of  the  church,  the  women  on  the 
other.  Those  on  one  side  of  the  gallery  at  the 
back  looked  down  on  a  sea  of  red  fezes;  those 
on  the  other,  on  a  sea  of  black  silk  charchafs  or 
street  veils.  Up  and  down  the  center  of  the 
sea  of  red  fezes  walked  the  ushers,  keeping  open 
an  aisle  for  the  dignitaries  who  should  arrive 
later  and  occupy  the  upholstered  seats  in  front. 


PRELUDE  XV 

And  now  they  began  to  come  in, — Protestant, 
Catholic,  Gregorian,  Jew,  and  Moslem.  Many  of 
the  last-named  had  never  before  crossed  the 
threshold  of  a  church.  There  were  wealthy  mer- 
chants, in  their  broadcloth  coats  or  richly  em- 
broidered jackets ;  there  were  young  professional 
men,  in  their  tailored  suits  of  European  cut ;  there 
was  the  Turkish  Hodja,  with  his  huge  white  tur- 
ban and  green  girdle ;  the  Dervish  Sheikh,  in  his 
tall  camePs-hair  cap  and  brown  camePs-hair  robe, 
and  the  Gregorian  bishop,  in  his  purple  cassock 
and  black  silk  go^vn ;  there  were  the  city  beys  and 
effendis,  some  gorgeously  arrayed  in  old-time 
Turkish  style,  some  in  natty  European  suits ;  and 
there  were  two  seats  filled  with  military  officers, 
looking  very  Frenchy  with  their  high,  military 
collars  and  their  curled  mustaches ;  finally,  sitting 
complacently  in  the  center,  his  three  hundred 
pounds  surrounded  by  a  broad  red  girdle,  was 
old  Hadji  Husein  Agha,  who  had  saved  the  hos- 
pital from  the  mob,  on  that  memorable  day  of 
massacre. 

The  ushers'  task  had  not  been  an  easy  one, 
for  each  official  was  on  the  keen  lookout  for  his 
dignity,  and  would  be  mortally  offended  should 
a  man  of  lesser  rank  or  wealth  be  shown  to  a 


xvi  PRELUDE 

chair  with  more  upholstery  or  placed  in  a  better 
position  for  observing  the  ceremonies. 

Seated  on  the  platform  were  those  who  were 
to  take  part  in  the  program ;  the  pastor,  the  senior 
college  professor,  the  most  prominent  city  physi- 
cian, the  Armenian  bishop,  the  Catholic  merchant, 
and  the  assistant  physician  at  the  hospital.  The 
doctor,  wearing  a  black  suit  and  stiff  shirt  (the 
latter  he  would  tolerate  only  on  state  occasions), 
sat  beside  his  wife  in  the  audience  well  toward 
the  front. 

As  the  men  on  the  platform  looked  out  over 
that  proud  audience,  and  then  at  the  Big  Little 
Doctor,  sitting  so  modestly  in  their  midst,  their 
minds  traveled  back  over  the  twenty-five  years 
he  had  lived  among  them.  The  city  physician 
thought  of  those  first  years,  when  there  were  no 
educated  native  doctors  in  the  land,  and  when 
Dr.  Shepard  had  made  that  brave  effort  which 
gave  him  and  his  fellow-students  their  medical 
training;  of  the  fight  against  death  that  he  and 
his  chief  had  made,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  in  epi- 
demics of  cholera  or  typhoid ;  of  the  doctor  *s  dar- 
ing horseback  trips  over  perilous  roads,  to 
save  life  in  some  distant  city;  of  his  gentle  pa- 
tience with  the  village  folk  who  pressed  upon 


PRELUDE  xvii 

him  at  every  stopping-place,  not  giving  him  time 
to  eat;  of  those  glorious  days  in  camp,  and  the 
nights  when  they  sat  about  the  camp-fire,  while 
the  doctor  talked  with  the  village  hunters  about 
the  Great  Friend  who  had  lived  among  the  fisher- 
folk  of  Galilee. 

The  younger  physician,  who  had  stood  yester- 
day beside  him  at  the  operating  table,  thought 
of  those  many  miracles  of  the  surgeon  ^s  knife 
that  had  broken  down  the  walls  of  prejudice  and 
opened  the  doors  for  the  doctor  in  remote  and 
obscure  villages;  of  the  hospital  where,  because 
of  the  doctor's  touch  of  love,  all  hatreds  between 
patients  of  every  creed  died  away;  and  of  the 
stream  of  healing  for  body  and  soul  that  went 
forth  to  thousands  of  afflicted  ones  from  those 
hospital  doors. 

To  the  memory  of  the  college  professor  came 
that  day  when  the  doctor  sent  him  a  hurry  call 
in  the  laboratory  to  generate  oxygen  which  saved 
the  life  of  a  dying  student. 

The  Catholic  merchant  saw,  in  his  mind,  the 
bed  on  which  he  had  lain  dying  of  the  disease 
brought  on  him  by  his  own  drunkenness ;  and  the 
little  shrine  where  his  devout  mother  kept  an 
oil  dip  constantly  burning  before  the  Virgin,  in 


xviii  PRELUDE 

token  of  gratitude  for  the  operation  which  had 
saved  him  for  a  better  life. 

In  the  pastor's  mind  rose  the  picture  of  the 
village  churches  and  schools,  built  by  the  doc- 
tor 's  brotherly  help ;  and  the  scene  of  the  preacher 
rescued  from  a  wild  mob  by  a  rough  Turk  who 
had  been  cured  by  the  doctor's  skill. 

The  Armenian  bishop  heard  again  the  piteous 
cry  of  the  women  and  children  dying  of  starva- 
tion, and  saw  those  same  ragged  women  and  chil- 
dren clothed,  fed,  and  housed  by  the  devoted 
efforts  of  the  doctor  and  his  wife. 

The  little  cabinet  organ  swelled  its  tone  in  the 
opening  march.  There  was  scripture  reading  and 
prayer,  and  then  these  men  stood  up,  in  turn,  to 
tell  what  the  doctor's  work,  during  twenty-five 
years,  had  meant  to  them  and  to  their  country. 
When  the  bishop  spoke,  he  stepped  to  the  doctor 
and  presented  a  silver  pitcher  from  the  com- 
munity, promising  a  golden  one  if  the  doctor 
would  let  them  celebrate  his  jubilee,  twenty-five 
years  from  that  time. 

As  the  martial  strains  of  the  Hamidieh  March 
died  away,  and  the  doctor  stepped  to  the  plat- 
form for  his  reply,  a  thunder  of  applause  greeted 
him  from  that  mixed  throng.    Looking  out  over 


PRELUDE  xix 

the  audience,  unlike  any  ever  before  gathered 
in  a  Christian  church,  the  Big  Little  Doctor  seized 
the  opportunity  to  speak  a  few  earnest  words  for 
his  Master,  and  said : 

^*If  one  who  did  not  know  me  had  listened  to 
what  has  been  said  about  me  during  the  last  two 
hours,  he  would  think  that  Dr.  Shepard  must  be 
some  great  man;  but  you  and  I  know  that  it  is 
not  so.  A  farmer's  son,  I  grew  up  as  an  orphan. 
I  finished  school  with  great  difficulty;  I  have  not 
marked  intellectual  ability.  Yet  this  great  gath- 
ering, on  a  busy  week-day  afternoon,  must  have 
a  reason.  I  know  that  this  reason  is  not  I,  myself. 
It  is  one  greater  than  I  am — God  and  His  love. 
For  one  who  knows  how  God  loves  men,  and  how 
Jesus  has  saved  us,  not  to  tell  others  about  that 
love  is  impossible.  Because  I  have  understood  a 
little  of  that  love,  I  try  to  let  others  know  about 
it.  This  is  the  purpose  of  my  life.  I  did  not 
come  to  this  country  to  make  money  or  to  win 
a  reputation.  I  came  to  bear  witness  to  this,  that 
God  is  Love.  And  if,  by  my  work  or  life,  I  have 
been  able  to  show  this  to  you,  I  have  had  my 
reward,  and  for  it  I  thank  God.  The  reason  why 
the  world  has  not  yet  been  set  free  from  its  ills 
and  diseases  is  not  that  the  necessary  medicines 


XX  PRELUDE 

have  not  yet  been  found;  it  is  that  men  do  not 
love  each  other,  and  that  the  rich  are  not  willing 
to  use  their  money  for  the  needs  of  the  poor.  I 
beg  and  counsel  you  to  know  that  God  is  Love, 
and  to  love  each  other,  in  deed  and  in  truth.  *^ 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH 

HE  was  obviously  the  kind  of  a  boy  who  needs 
at  least  three  guardian  angels.  The  instinct 
of  fear  seemed  to  have  been  left  out  of  his  make- 
up. Perhaps  this  was  because,  from  the  very 
first,  he  was  so  much  a  child  of  nature.  One  of 
his  earliest  memories  was  of  waking  in  the  night, 
during  a  terrific  thunder-storm  that  shook  the 
little  house  in  Ellenburg  like  an  earthquake,  and 
after  lying  quiet  a  while,  listening  to  the  rumble 
and  crash,  lisping  to  his  grandmother,  *^Nice 
f under ;  like  it. ' ' 

What  a  treat  it  was  to  adventuresome  little 
Fred  when  one  day  his  father  took  him  to  see 
the  busy  lumber  mill  where  he  made  his  living, 
— the  great,  humming  mill,  with  its  big  belts  and 
buzz-saws  in  full  motion,  its  huge  water-wheels 
and  piles  of  sawdust.  In  the  floor  was  a  great 
hole  through  which  the  sawdust  and  ^^ edgings" 
were  dropped  between  the  water-Avheels  to  the 
river  below.    Fascinated  in  watching  a  buzz-saw, 

1 


2  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

Fred  took  a  step  or  two  backward  and  suddenly 
disappeared  through  this  hole. 

*'Shut  off  the  power!"  shouted  the  horrified 
father,  at  the  same  moment  starting  on  the  run 
for  the  river  below. 

**Fred!"  he  called,  sick  with  dread  at  the  sight 
that  might  meet  him,  the  little  body  mangled 
between  the  whirling  wheels.    ' '  Oh,  Fred ! '  ^ 

Back  came  a  cheerful  shout  from  down-stream 
where,  on  a  sunny  rock,  sat  the  small  boy,  wet 
but  unperturbed. 

Fred's  daring  spirit  and  love  of  the  wild  were 
all  the  more  remarkable  because  he  was  not  physi- 
cally robust;  and  often,  after  eating  some  of  his 
aunt's  best  buckwheat  cakes,  he  would  regretfully 
renounce  all  meals  for  many  hours.  But  the 
dauntless  courage  of  his  spirit,  and  his  readiness 
to  attempt  any  task,  developed  wonderful  strength 
and  agility.  When  he  was  but  ten  years  old,  and 
living  with  an  uncle  on  the  banks  of  the  Chateau- 
guay  Kiver,  he  had  a  pet  brood  of  ten  ducklings, 
hatched  by  an  old  white  hen.  Every  day  one  of 
his  ducklings  disappeared  from  the  pool  in  the 
river,  where  they  went  to  swim.  Fred  decided 
to  find  out  what  became  of  those  ducklings,  and 
set  himself  on  the  bank  to  watch. 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  3 

Presently,  splash!    A  duckling  disappeared. 

*^ There's  a  big  pickerel  there,  111  bet,  and  I'll 
get  him,  too, ' '  thought  Fred. 

Off  he  went  for  pole  and  line,  and  then  he 
baited  the  hook  with  a  fine  little  green  frog. 
Hardly  had  the  wriggling  form  plunged  into  the 
duck-pool,  when  there  came  a  terrific  pull,  and 
Fred  found  himself  over  his  depth  in  the  river. 

^* Uncle  Douglas!''  he  yelled.  ^'Oh,  Uncle 
Douglas!"  and  his  uncle  came  running  to  the 
rescue,  in  time  to  haul  in  the  boy  and  also  a  fif- 
teen-pound pickerel. 

^^Well,"  he  drawled,  as  he  weighed  the  big  fish, 
**I  guess  you're  a  chip  of  the  old  block!" 

A  ^^chip  of  the  old  block"  he  was,  by  good 
rights.  Around  the  great  fire  in  the  fireplace  of 
the  old  farmhouse,  Grandnia  Shepard  told  Fred, 
and  the  other  little  Shepards,  tales  that  sent  de- 
lightful thrills  up  and  down,  their  spines;  tales 
of  pioneer  days  when,  following  the  blazed  trail 
from  New  Hampshire,  they  came  to  Clinton 
County.  Here  they  found  the  forest  so  full  of 
Indians  that  the  men  kept  their  guns  cocked 
ready  at  their  side,  while  they  chopped  down 
trees  for  the  log  cabins;  while  she  herself, 
crouching  in  some  thicket  with  her  baby,  cooked 


4  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

their  food  by  a  hollow  stump.  Beside  that  same 
fireplace  Grandma  Douglas,  who  had  come  over 
from  the  Scotch  Highlands,  would  recite,  hour 
after  hour,  the  stirring  verses  of  Marmion  or 
The  Lady  of  the  Lake,  until  young  imaginations 
were  fired  with  desire  to  do  noble  deeds  and  brave. 

From  the  ^^old  block,''  too,  the  ^^chip''  derived 
an  irresistible  sense  of  humor,  a  keen  sense  of 
justice,  a  Yankee  genius  which  could  cope  with 
any  emergency,  and  a  resolute  will. 

The  ^^old  block,''  in  the  person  of  Grandfather 
Shepard,  had  been  a  smoker  all  his  life. 

**How  much  do  you  s'pose  you've  spent  during 
your  life  for  tobacco.  Dad!"  asked  his  sons  one 
day  when  he  was  more  than  eighty  years  old. 

*^0h,  not  much,  I  guess,"  replied  the  old  man. 

'^Well,  Father,"  they  said,  after  putting  their 
heads  together  over  some  figuring,  ^* you've  spent 
enough  to  buy  a  good  big  farm." 

^^Give  me  that  paper!"  he  said;  and  after  a 
little  study — ' '  Well,  have  I  been  such  an  old  fool 
as  that!  I'll  never  smoke  another  pipe!"  And 
he  never  did. 

Much  in  the  same  way,  ^^the  chip,"  in  the  per- 
son of  Fred,  gave  up  swearing  in  a  day. 

Back  of  his  uncle's  house  in  Madrid,  a  little  vil- 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  6 

lage  of  northern  New  York,  flowed  a  canal  witli 
a  sluice-gate  feeding  the  grist-mill  below.  It  was 
great  sport  to  dive  under  and  swim  through  the 
open  gate  toward  the  mill.  One  day,  as  Fred 
was  swimming  through,  one  of  the  boys,  by  way 
of  a  joke,  released  the  gate  which  closed  down, 
catching  Fred's  ankle.  Of  course  the  water  began 
to  rise  and  Fred  shouted  lustily  for  help ;  but  the 
boys  thought  his  outcries  were  all  in  fun.  Then 
in  a  rage  he  began  to  swear,  until  finally  a  man, 
hearing  the  uproar,  came  and  opened  the  gate  just 
as  the  water  closed  over  Fred's  head. 

^^Who  was  doing  that  terrible  swearing  on  the 
hill?"  asked  Aunt  Hannah,  when  Fred  appeared 
a  little  later.  He  made  no  reply  but,  realizing 
how  near  he  had  come  to  dying,  with  those  words 
on  his  lips,  he  determined  that  never  again  should 
a  profane  word  be  spoken  by  him. 

Active  in  mind  as  in  body,  when  four  years  old, 
Fred  decided  he  would  learn  to  read.  By  dint 
of  much  teasing  of  his  elders,  he  succeeded  in 
getting  enough  help  from  them  at  odd  moments  to 
be  able,  before  long,  to  read  from  the  big  family 
Bible.  Every  day  after  that  he  read  a  chapter 
to  his  grandmother.  From  that  time,  books  be- 
came his  constant  companions. 


8  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

Fred's  father  had  meant  mucli  to  him  during 
his  early  childhood,  but  he  died  when  Fred  was 
entering  his  teens.  His  mother  was  for  many 
years  a  constant  invalid,  so  Fred  was  thrown 
much  on  his  own  resourcs.  Living  on  the  farm 
at  Madrid  with  his  uncle,  he  went  to  school  dur- 
ing the  winter.  In  the  chill  of  early  da^VTi,  with 
the  thermometer  below  zero,  Fred  would  get  up 
at  four  o'clock  every  morning  to  help  with  the 
milking  and  other  chores  before  he  started  for 
school,  with  skates  slung  over  his  shoulder  for 
the  hockey  game  at  recess.  All  this  time  there 
were  being  developed  in  the  boy  a  keenness  of 
mind  and  strength  of  muscle  which  stood  the  man 
in  such  good  stead. 

Vacation  found  him  in  an  Adirondack  camp 
with  his  uncle,  living  in  a  birch-bark  shack  sur- 
rounded by  deep  snow,  hunting  deer,  and  trap- 
ping fox  and  mink.  This  was  the  life  he  loved 
best,  and  here  he  was  initiated  into  the  use  of 
shot-gun  and  rifle.  And  what  days  those  were 
when  they  went  out  into  the  sugar-camp  and  Fred 
helped  the  ^'French  Canucks''  in  gathering  and 
boiling  down  the  sweet  sap !  One  day,  when  walk- 
ing over  the  huge  white  drifts,  bearing  two  heavy 
pails  of  sap,  Fred  caught  his  snowshoe  on  a  stump 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  7 

and  was  thrown  headfirst  into  a  ten-foot  drift, 
while  the  icy  sap  ran  down  his  neck.  '^I  had  to 
twist  myself  aronnd  until  I  could  get  hold  of  one 
leg  and  then  climb  up  it  to  get  out,'*  he  used  to 
say  with  a  chuckle,  when  telling  of  the  escapade. 

The  spirit  of  self-reliance  which  had  been  de- 
veloped so  early  in  Fred  is  shown  in  the  follow- 
ing incident,  which  occurred  when  he  was  twelve 
years  old.  There  was  an  ugly-tempered  dog  in 
town,  with  whom  the  boy  was  not  on  speaking 
terms.  After  one  or  two  unpleasant  meetings 
with  the  creature,  Fred  decided  to  get  rid  of  him. 
He  secretly  procured  a  pistol  and,  putting  it  in 
his  pocket,  sauntered  toward  the  bridge  where  the 
meetings  between  boy  and  dog  had  taken  place. 
It  was  a  very  natural  thing,  though  very  thought- 
less, for  the  boy  to  keep  one  hand  in  his  pocket, 
fingering  the  trigger.  It  was  also  a  very  natural 
thing  for  the  trigger  to  snap  back  suddenly  and 
discharge  the  bullet  through  Fred's  leg! 

Now  Fred  had  a  wholesome  fear  of  his  uncle's 
whip,  with  which  he  had  come  in  contact  once 
or  twice.  So,  instead  of  going  home,  he  turned 
toward  the  little  cottage  where  his  younger  sister 
was  caring  for  his  sick  mother. 

*^ Hello,  Mother,"  he  said  cheerily,  as  he  ran 


8  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

through  her  room  to  the  kitchen,  with  a  sign  to 
his  sister  to  follow. 

*^Say,  Alice,''  he  whispered,  **get  me  some 
warm  water  and  two  clean  linen  handkerchiefs, 
and  be  quiet  about  it,  will  youl'' 

*^But,  Fred,  what  has  happened?  You're 
dreadfully  hurt!"  she  cried,  as  shp  saw  the  blood 
oozing  through  his  trousers. 

^^Sh,"  he  whispered  cautiously,  ^^ don't  let 
Mother  hear,  it  will  only  worry  her.  We  can  fix 
it  up,  all  right." 

''  But  what  will  Uncle  Clinton  say!  " 

*^He  doesn't  need  to  know,  if  you  don't  *  peach' 
on  me." 

*'But  you  ought  to  go  to  the  doctor  and  get  it 
'tended  to." 

^^I  guess  we  can  'tend  to  it,  all  right." 

With  her  help,  he  washed  and  bandaged  the 
wound.  Alice  did  not  ^^ peach,"  but  a  boy  who 
had  been  with  him  when  the  accident  happened 
did  '^ peach,"  and  so — Fred  went  to  see  the 
doctor ! 

After  three  years  at  Madrid,  Fred  was  ready 
to  enter  Franklin  Academy  and,  with  his  mother 
and  sisters,  he  moved  to  town.  With  all  his  en- 
ergies he  threw  himself  into  the  life  of  the  school. 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  9 

*^He  was  always  at  his  books,  for  he  was  a  great 
student,'^  one  of  his  classmates  wrote.  Yet  he 
was  a  veritable  baseball  fiend;  he  lost  several  of 
his  teeth  by  being  hit  in  the  month  with  a  stone 
used  in  playing  hockey ;  and,  with  his  short,  thick- 
set figure,  his  long  arms,  and  his  cat-like  agility, 
he  could  down  a  much  more  powerful  opponent 
in  boxing  or  wrestling.  Fair  play  and  the 
^*  square  deal'^  he  always  insisted  on.  If  there 
was  the  least  indication  of  foul  play,  he  would 
drop  out  of  the  game  at  once. 

The  day  before  vacation,  Fred  would  come 
home  and  say  to  his  sister,  ** Alice,  we're  off  for 
ten  days  in  the  Adirondacks,  Tom  and  I.  Will 
you  put  us  up  some  grubT'  Then  off  in  the 
early  morning,  with  canoe,  fishing  tackle  and  gun. 
One  year  a  larger  group  of  chums  went  together, 
agreeing  that  one  should  be  cook  until  some  other 
member  of  the  party  made  an  adverse  criticism 
on  his  cooking,  when  the  ^'kicker''  should  be 
obliged  to  take  his  turn  at  it.  Turns  came  and 
went  in  quick  succession  until  Fred,  in  an  un- 
guarded moment,  made  the  unlucky  complaint. 
Days  passed,  and  flapjacks,  baked  potatoes,  fish, 
and  hoe-cake  were  so  satisfactory  that  no  com- 
plaint was  heard.    Finally,  Fred  got  sick  of  the 


10  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

job  of  chief  cook  and  decided  be  would  make  one 
desperate  attempt  to  get  out  of  it.  A  bandful 
of  salt  went  into  tbe  next  batcb  of  biscuit.  The 
biscuits  looked  light  and  flaky  as  they  came  out 
of  the  mud  oven,  and  Steve  sank  his  teeth  deep 
into  a  luscious  morsel;  then — *^Well,  if  this  isn't 
the  saltiest  biscuit  I  ever — ^but  it's  good,  it's  good, 
its  good!"  The  compliment  came  too  late,  and 
Steve  had  to  pay  the  penalty. 

Fred's  first  experience  as  an  instructor  came 
when  he  was  asked  to  substitute,  in  Malone,  for 
one  of  the  teachers  who  was  ill.  It  was  at  this 
time,  when  his  preparatory  education  was  fin- 
ished and  he  was  facing  the  question,  ^^What  next 
in  life?"  that  he  attended  some  revival  meetings 
which  were  being  held  in  the  Baptist  church. 
Young  Shepard  became  deeply  interested,  and 
finally,  under  the  influence  of  the  ardent  young 
preacher,  he  accepted  Christ  as  his  personal 
Savior.  The  next  morning,  when  the  substitute 
teacher  read  the  Scripture  lesson,  the  boys  and 
girls  noted  a  new  ring  to  his  voice  and  caught 
a  new  meaning  from  the  lesson.  As  whole- 
heartedly and  unreservedly  as  the  boy  had  thrown 
himself  into  his  studies,  his  escapades,  and  his 
sports,  so  fully  did  the  young  man  now  consecrate 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  11 

himself  to  the  service  of  his  new-found  Master, 
seeking  the  place  where  he  might  serve  him  best. 
Meanwhile,  to  earn  money  for  additional  edu- 
cation, he  undertook  teaching  a  district  school. 
According  to  the  good  old  traditions  of  the  district 
school,  when  the  new  teacher  was  heralded,  the 
bullies  of  the  school  clubbed  together  to  ''run  him 
out."    When  they  saw  the  ''little  boy"  who  had 
come  to  "boss"  them,  they  thought  they  had  an 
easy  task  before  them.    But  the  gloveless  boxing 
and  wrestling  match  which  followed  the  first  show 
of  rebellion  was  very  short  and  very  conclusive, 
and  the  bullies,  who  were  bigger  and  older  than 
the  new  teacher,  found  themselves  utterly  routed. 
From  that  day  those  troublesome  pupils  had  a 
warm  admiration  for  him,  and,  while  he  was  a 
good  pal  in  all  their  outdoor  sports,  there  was 
no  question  as  to  who  was  in  control  in  the  school- 
room. 

His  genius  for  friendship  and  sympathy 
reached  beyond  school  hours  and,  night  after 
night,  the  young  teacher,  who  was  soon  to  become 
the  great  doctor,  found  expression  for  his  new 
ideals  of  Christian  service  in  nursing  a  pupil  at 
whose  home  he  boarded,  through  a  long  and  pain- 
ful siege  of  inflammatory  rheumatism.    The  husky 


12  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

young  athlete  who  had  punished  the  bully  had 
the  tender  heart  and  the  skilful  touch  of  a  woman ; 
for  the  natural  instinct  of  a  nurse,  which  so  many 
great  doctors  lack,  had  been  trained  and  devel- 
oped in  him  by  his  thoughtful  ministrations  to 
the  invalid  mother  at  home. 

But  all  the  time  young  Shepard  was  looking 
forward  to  preparing  himself  for  a  greater  ser- 
vice. Through  a  friend,  he  was  able  to  borrow 
enough  money  to  enter  Cornell  University  in  the 
fall  of  1877.  From  his  father,  he  had  inherited 
a  taste  for  civil  engineering,  and  Cornell  offered 
the  best  opportunities  to  him  in  that  line.  To 
make  the  borrowed  money  go  as  far  as  possible, 
Shepard,  with  several  chums,  clubbed  together 
to  keep  bachelors'  hall,  and  of  course  the  efficient 
camp-cook  had  to  take  charge  of  the  commissary. 
Cereals,  baked  beans,  apples  and  flapjacks,  with 
mush  and  molasses,  were  the  chief  articles  on 
the  menu.  They  were  finely  spiced  with  young- 
hunger  sauce,  and  served  up  by  the  amateur  cook 
with  garnishings  of  fish  tales  and  hunting  yarns. 

The  pennies  saved  for  the  sake  of  an  educa- 
tion that  should  lead  to  a  great  service  for  the 
King,  were  not  the  only  pennies  earned.  Every 
opportunity  that  offered  for  making  even  a  small 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  13 

sum  was  eagerly  seized.  One  summer  Shepard 
went  to  a  farmer  of  his  acquaintance  and  asked 
him  for  employment.  The  farmer  looked  him 
over  critically  and  shook  his  head.  **I  don't  want 
a  boy,  sonny/'  he  said.  ^'The  only  job  I  have 
is  a  man's  job." 

<<Try  me  out  for  a  week,"  replied  Shepard, 
^*and  if  I  don't  do  as  much  as  any  one  of  your 
men,  you  needn't  pay  me  any  wages  for  my  time." 

After  the  week,  the  farmer  was  more  than  glad 
to  keep  him  on  for  the  season.  At  a  starch  fac- 
tory where  he  worked  for  a  time,  there  was  a 
huge  bag  of  starch  to  be  moved  across  the  floor, 
but  no  one  was  able  to  lift  it.  *'Let  me  try," 
said  the  boy  who  had  not  yet  reached  his  full 
growth  of  five  feet  four;  and  lifting  the  bag,  he 
carried  it  across  the  floor  with  ease.  Many  a 
time  later,  as  he  lifted  a  two-hundred-pound  man 
from  the  operating  table  to  the  bed,  did  he  think 
of  that  bag  of  starch.  Many  a  time,  in  planning 
a  new  building  for  hospital  or  college,  did  he  think 
of  the  hours  he  spent,  one  summer,  in  laying 
floors  mth  the  village  carpenter.  Quite  as  valua- 
ble for  his  future  work  as  his  regular  studies 
was  the  training  of  eye  and  muscle  and  brain 
which  he  acquired  in  these  varied  activities,  and 


14  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

not  a  single  side  issue  but  bore  its  fruit  in  later 
years  when  meeting  emergencies  in  an  undevel- 
oped country. 

College  athletics  could  not  but  make  a  strong 
appeal  to  the  ^^  baseball  fiend  ^'  of  Academy  days 
who  thought  little  of  walking  seventeen  miles  from 
camp  to  take  part  in  a  ball  match.  On  entering 
college,  Shepard  applied  to  the  crew-master  to 
be  tried  out  for  the  crew.  The  crew-master  looked 
down  on  the  short,  stocky  fellow  and  said, 

** Little  boy,  you'll  have  to  grow  some  before 
you  can  get  on  the  crew.  You  aren't  big  enough 
to  pull  the  stroke  with  the  other  fellows." 

**But  look  at  the  length  of  my  arms,"  said 
Shepard.     ''Give  me  a  try-out  and  you'll  see." 

The  try-out  proved  that  he  could  pull  a  longer 
stroke  than  any  other  man  on  the  crew. 

Two  years  at  Cornell,  and  a  more  careful  con- 
sideration of  how  he  could  best  serve  the  King 
to  whom  he  had  dedicated  himself  so  definitely, 
convinced  young  Shepard  that  he  should  take  up 
the  study  of  medicine,  and  he  decided  to  enter 
Michigan  University.  With  his  keen  mind,  his 
painstaking  habits  as  a  student,  and  his  devotion 
to  his  purpose,  the  young  medical  student  suc- 
ceeded in  finishing  the  three  years'  course  at  the 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  15 

University  in  two.  It  was  not  ^^all  work  and  no 
play/'  either;  for  he  and  some  of  his  classmates 
played  various  pranks  with  their  electric  appa- 
ratus. One  day  they  induced  an  unsuspecting 
lower-classman  to  take  hold  of  certain  levers  and 
turned  on  just  enough  current  to  keep  him  danc- 
ing about,  unable  to  let  go.  On  an  April  Fool's 
Day,  an  electric  wire  was  attached  to  a  penny 
placed  on  the  sidewalk,  so  that  each  person  who 
tried  to  pick  it  up  received  an  electric  shock. 
His  unusual  facility  in  the  use  of  the  English  lan- 
guage, and  his  ability  as  a  student,  won  him  the 
place  of  editor  on  the  monthly  paper  of  the  med- 
ical department.  As  president  of  the  Christian 
Association  of  the  depaitment,  he  had  a  chance 
to  get  near  to  the  fellows  and  influence  them  for 
Christ;  while,  outside  of  the  student  body,  he 
took  part  in  services  for  patients  in  the  hospitals 
and  for  prisoners  in  the  jails.  His  genius  for 
nursing  was  further  developed  by  the  night  nurs- 
ing to  which  he  was  assigned  in  the  hospitals,  as 
a  means  of  earning  money  for  his  course.  One 
night,  while  on  duty  as  night  nurse  in  the  men's 
ward,  Miss  Andrews,  whom  he  had  come  to  ad- 
mire as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  charming 
of  the  young  women  students,  the  daughter  of  a 


16  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

pioneer  missionary  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  came 
gliding  throngh  the  corridor,  with  the  soft  light 
gleaming  on  her  heavy  coils  of  golden  hair.  ' '  Oh, 
Dr.  Shepard,''  she  whispered,  *^I  don't  know  what 
to  do  with  a  woman  in  Ward  Two.  She  is  suf- 
fering so  terribly  and  I  have  no  orders  to  give 
her  any  morphine." 

**I'll  be  there  in  a  moment,"  was  the  reply  and, 
entering  the  ward,  he  took  the  responsibility  of 
administering  morphine.  This  was  but  the  first 
of  many  responsibilities  which  the  blue-eyed  girl 
and  the  young  doctor  shared  through  the  future 
years ;  for  when  she  graduated,  a  year  later  than 
he,  she  promised  to  go  with  him  across  the  seas, 
to  bring  life  and  light  to  those  who  sat  in  dark- 
ness. 

Final  examinations  found  Shepard  with  a  high 
fever  from  an  attack  of  tonsilitis,  but  small  ob- 
stacles in  the  way  of  his  aims  had  never  daunted 
him,  and  he  went  to  the  classroom  as  if  nothing 
were  the  matter.  As  fever  always  had  the  effect 
of  exciting  his  brain  to  double  activity,  the  ex- 
aminations were  passed  with  unusual  brilliancy; 
and,  on  the  day  of  graduation,  Dr.  Shepard  stood 
second  in  his  class  of  more  than  a  hundred,  in 
spite  of  having  completed  the  three  years '  course 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  17 

in  two.  This,  or  any  other,  honor  was  never 
alluded  to  by  him,  for  modesty  was  one  of  the 
foundation  stones  of  his  character. 

The  year  after  graduation  Dr.  Shepard  spent 
in  New  York  City.  Working  with  the  famous 
Dr.  Knapp,  he  acquired  great  skill  in  eye  opera- 
tions, after  practising  on  dozens  of  pigs'  eyes 
before  he  undertook  the  delicate  work  on  the 
human  eye.  Then,  as  clinical  assistant  in  the 
New  York  Ophthalmic  and  Aural  Institute,  he 
gained  much  valuable  experience.  As  he  knew 
that  the  missionary  doctor  must  be  *'all  things 
to  all  men,"  he  added  to  his  equipment  by  a  short 
course  in  practical  dentistry.  With  his  natural 
bent  for  mechanics,  he  took  to  this  new  line  of 
work  ^'like  a  duck  to  water.''  How  successful 
he  was  in  it,  is  plain  from  a  letter  written  by  him. 

**Last  week,"  he  wrote,  '^I  made  an  artificial 
soft  palate  for  a  child  with  congenital  cleft  of 
palate,  who  in  consequence  had  not  learned  to  talk, 
and  the  appliance  worked  beautifully,  enabling 
her  to  drink  naturally  and  to  articulate  well. ' ' 

Many  were  the  missionary  associates,  as  well 
as  the  natives,  who  in  years  to  come  blessed  the 
doctor  for  his  foresight  in  taking  this  extra  train- 
ing. 


18  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

In  the  metropolis,  too,  his  passion  for  winning 
men  to  Christ  had  a  chance  to  express  itself  in  a 
larger  way.  Sunday  afternoons  found  him  visit- 
ing the  institutions  on  BlackwelPs  Island,  bring- 
ing a  word  of  cheer  here,  or  a  hearty  laugh 
there,  and  always  a  sense  of  the  presence  of  the 
Great  Physician.  Many  an  evening  found  him 
in  Dr.  Schaufler's  mission,  bringing  new  hope 
into  the  lives  of  men  who  were  ^'down  and  out." 

In  speaking  of  this  year  in  New  York,  he  said, 
*^I  feel  that  this  year  has  been  one  of  soul-prepa- 
ration to  me  as  well  as  mind-fitting  for  the  work 
of  the  Master.  My  joy  in  being  permitted  a  part 
in  the  glorious  battle  of  winning  the  world  for 
Christ  rises  as  the  time  draws  near  for  taking 
my  place  in  the  ranks.  I  realize  my  weakness 
and  insufficiency  more  keenly  than  ever,  but  my 
faith  in  *Him  who  worketh  all  things  after  the 
counsel  of  His  will ;  to  the  end  that  we  should  be 
unto  the  praise  of  His  glory,'  has  been  greatly 
strengthened  and  I  am  longing  to  begin  my  life 
work. ' ' 

On  July  5,  1882,  the  Hawaiian  missionary's 
daughter,  Miss  Andrews,  and  Dr.  Shepard  en- 
tered into  the  life  partnership  which  was  to  bring 
new  courage  and  hope  to  so  many  sick  and  needy 


BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH  19 

persons  in  a  distant  land.  Equipped  with  the 
best  training  he  could  secure,  powerful  in  phy- 
sique, alert  in  mind,  buoyant  in  spirit,  imbued 
with  the  love  of  the  Master,  with  face  turned 
hopefully  and  eagerly  toward  the  East,  the  young 
recruit  waited  the  summons  to  the  front. 


II 

THE  SPRING  OF  HEALING 

JUST  where  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor  makes  a 
sharp  turn  southward,  toward  Syria  and 
Palestine,  lies  the  beautiful  gulf  of  Alexandretta ; 
back  of  it  stretches  the  Plain  of  Issus ;  while  tow- 
ering above  all  are  the  rugged  mountains  of  the 
Amanus,  with  its  famous  pass  known  as  the  Syr- 
ian Gates,  through  which  Alexander  marched  his 
conquering  army.  The  morning  sun  had  just 
softened  the  bald  peaks  above  the  timber-line  with 
its  golden  touch,  as  over  the  blue  waves  of  the 
gulf  glided  a  little  Mediterranean  steamer,  trail- 
ing its  cloud  of  smoke  through  the  sky.  The  pas- 
sengers were  already  on  deck,  eagerly  taking  in 
the  glory  of  the  sunrise  on  mountain  and  sea. 
With  what  eagerness  did  the  young  doctor  and 
his  wife  look  across  the  gnilf  to  the  little  town 
of  Alexandretta,  from  which  they  would  make 
the  journey  of  one  hundred  miles  overland  to  the 

21 


22  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

city  of  Aintab,  where  they  were  to  begin  their 
work  for  the  King. 

Some  ten  weeks  before,  on  August  5,  1882,  a 
month  after  their  marriage,  they  had  waved 
good-by  to  friends  on  the  pier  in  New  York  as  the 
City  of  Rome  slowly  moved  out  toward  the  wide 
ocean.  On  board  was  a  jolly,  enthusiastic  group 
of  young  missionaries,  and  the  long  voyage  was 
enlivened  by  games  on  deck  and  chess  tourna- 
ments in  the  saloon. 

A  week  in  London,  a  record-breaking  storm  in 
the  English  Channel,  when,  for  nine  hours,  the 
boat  *' stood  on  end,''  and  when  even  the  crew 
showed  symptoms  of  sympathy  with  the  land- 
lubbers; then  a  glorious  week  of  sightseeing  in 
Paris,  Cologne,  Mainz,  and  Vienna;  and  finally, 
by  train  and  boat,  to  Constantinople. 

The  young  recruits  arrived  in  the  city  just  as 
the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  arrival  of  the  vet- 
eran missionary.  Dr.  Elias  Riggs,  was  being  cele- 
brated, and  a  large  group  of  missionaries  had 
gathered  from  far  and  near. 

**The  new  doctor  for  Aintab  can  do  dental 
work,''  was  the  word  that  went  around  the  mis- 
sionary circle;  and  for  the  next  two  weeks,  while 
waiting  for  his  Turkish  diploma  permitting  him 


THE  SPRING  OF  HEALING  23 

to  practise  in  the  empire,  Dr.  Shepard  was  kept 
busy  with  dentistry  for  the  missionaries. 

The  examinations  for  the  diploma  had  to  be 
taken  in  Turkish,  through  an  interpreter. 

*^The  KJianum  [lady]  would  like  to  take  the 
examinations  and  receive  a  diploma,  too,*^  said 
Dr.  Shepard  to  the  Turkish  official  in  charge. 
^^She  finished  the  same  course  I  did  in  the  same 
university  in  America.'' 

*' Grant  a  permit  to  a  woman!"  exclaimed  the 
Turk  in  amazement.  ^^Such  a  thing  was  never 
heard  of!  It  is  against  the  law  of  our  country. 
Olmas,  Olmaz/'  [Impossible.]  *'But  why  do  you 
go  on  to  Aintab!  We  need  doctors  badly  in  Con- 
stantinople and, ' '  he  added  naively,  * '  the  Khanum 
could  get  much  money,  attending  the  women  in 
the  harems.'' 

One  of  the  missionaries  attending  the  confer- 
ence in  Constantinople  was  Dr.  Trowbridge,  pres- 
ident of  Central  Turkey  College  at  Aintab, 
through  whom  the  invitation  had  come  to  Dr. 
Shepard  to  take  the  professorship  in  the  newly- 
opened  medical  department  of  the  college.  With 
his  family  he  was  now  returning  to  Aintab,  bring- 
ing the  long-coveted  recruits  with  him. 

*^I  have  an  important  piece  of  news  for  you," 


24  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

he  aimoiiiiced  with  a  long  face,  the  day  before  they 
sighted  Alexandretta.  ^'I  have  to  inform  you 
that  there  is  an  army  of  twenty-five  thousand 
fleas  on  the  march  to  meet  you  at  the  village  of 
Beilan,  in  the  mountain  pass.  I  warn  you  to  be 
prepared.'' 

^'Oh,  they  are  old  Hawaiian  friends  of  mine,'' 
answered  Mrs.  Shepard;  but  the  doctor,  believing 
in  preparedness,  made  up  a  solution  of  quassia 
with  which  to  fight  the  foe. 

What  a  contrast  to  the  glory  of  the  country 
seen  at  a  distance,  through  the  misty  morning 
glow,  was  the  little  town  in  which  the  party 
landed.  The  dusty,  ill-smelling  streets  were  full 
of  yelping  dogs  and  ragged  children,  and  buzzing 
with  flies  and  mosquitoes  which  carried  the  germs 
of  malaria  and  sore  eyes.  What  a  relief  when, 
with  a  backsheesh  [tip]  here,  and  a  prescription 
for  the  customs  officials  there,  all  the  baggage  was 
landed.  Meanwhile,  a  long  caravan  of  horses  and 
mules  came  jangling  through  the  streets  to  meet 
them,  each  animal  clanging  the  heavy  bell  hung 
about  his  neck  by  a  necklace  of  beads,  blue  in 
color,  to  keep  off  the  **evil  eye." 

With  much  yelling  and  parleying  and  grunting, 
the  muleteers,  in  white,  baggy  trousers,  striped 


THE  SPRING  OF  HEALING  25 

gowns,  and  red  fezes,  finally  tied  the  load  onto 
the  pack-saddles.  The  children  were  seated  in 
canopied  boxes,  slung  on  either  side  of  a  mule; 
the  other  passengers  mounted  their  saddles  and 
the  party  was  off,  headed  for  the  mountain  range 
above,  with  its  little  village  of  Beilan,  with  little 
houses,  one  above  another,  at  the  pass. 

^^Masliallali,  [Praise  be  to  God]  the  Khanum 
can  ride, ' '  said  one  of  the  drivers,  the  next  instant 
turning  to  a  stumbling  mule  to  shout  ^^Son  of  a 
pig!^'  mth  a  cut  of  the  whip.  *'Most  new 
Khanums  have  never  been  on  a  horse  before." 

Up,  up,  up  the  winding  path  to  the  village, 
which  clung  like  an  eagle's  nest  to  the  steep  moun- 
tain at  the  pass,  the  roof  of  each  house  forming 
the  front  yard  of  the  house  above.  As  the  clang- 
ing caravan  scrambled  up  the  low  cobble-stone 
steps  which  formed  the  steep  streets,  dogs  barked 
and  black-eyed,  brightly-dressed  children  called 
excitedly,  ''Gel^  gel,  hah,  Shaphalular!^'  [Come, 
come,  see  the  hatted  ones!]  The  mothers,  draw- 
ing their  head-veils  over  all  but  one  eye,  ambled 
through  the  collection  of  chickens,  lambs,  calves, 
dogs,  and  children,  to  the  edge  of  the  flat  roofs, 
just  as  eager  as  children  themselves  to  see  the 
unusual  sight. 


26  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

The  five  days'  trip,  often  such  a  terror  to  new- 
comers, was  but  a  holiday  lark  to  Dr.  Shepard, 
so  fond  of  outdoor  sports,  and  to  his  wife,  who 
had  spent  many  a  day  of  her  girlhood  on  horse- 
back jaunts  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  At  night 
they  slept  on  army  cots,  in  tents  they  carried 
with  them.  Eising  in  the  early  dawn,  they  had 
a  breakfast  of  eggs  and  coffee,  cooked  over  a 
brazier  of  charcoal,  followed  by  morning  prayers 
in  Turkish  with  the  muleteers.  From  the  wayside 
vineyards,  they  plucked  grapes  in  clusters  so  large 
and  sweet  that  one  person  could  not  finish  a  single 
bunch.  At  one  point  on  their  journey,  the  Ar- 
menian servant  disappeared  into  a  near-by  field, 
presently  to  return  with  his  ample  robes  stuffed 
out  with  juicy  watermelons.  The  ever  varying 
landscape,  with  its  vivid  colors  of  earth  and  sky, 
delighted  the  newcomers. 

Even  before  reaching  his  appointed  task.  Dr. 
Shepard  realized  why  he  had  been  called  to  train 
new  doctors  for  these  poor  people.  Among  the 
crowds  of  villagers  who  came  to  view  the  strange 
sight  and  to  ask  innumerable  questions,  stood 
little  children  scarcely  able  to  see  out  of  swollen 
eyes,  covered  with  a  black  rim  of  flies.  This  con- 
dition seemed  inevitable  to  the  people. 


THE  SPRING  OF  HEALING  27 

**Wliy  don't  you  ^slioo'  them  off?'*  asked  Mrs. 
Shepard. 

*'0h,  that  would  never  do,  it  would  bring  on  a 
sickness,"  was  the  reply. 

In  its  mother's  arms  was  a  little  skinny  baby 
chewing  on  a  big  green  cucumber.  ^  *  Why  do  you 
give  the  child  that  cucumber?  See,  already  it 
looks  sick." 

*'What  could  I  do?"  answered  the  mother  with 
a  shrug.    '^He  cried  for  it." 

Many  of  the  children  wore  decorations  of  blue 
beads,  or  shells,  or  little  triangular  bundles  of 
cloth.  ^^ Those  are  all  to  keep  off  the  evil  eye," 
explained  Dr.  Trowbridge.  ^^The  triangle  has  a 
verse  from  the  Koran  sewed  up  inside.  You  must 
be  careful  not  to  praise  any  child,  or  you  may 
bring  the  evil  eye  on  him.  If  you  should  forget 
and  do  so,  you  must  always  add  the  word,  ^Ma- 
shallali,'  " 

Frequently,  at  the  top  of  some  little  hill,  they 
would  come  across  the  tomb  of  a  descendant  of 
the  prophet  Mohammed.  Fluttering  from  every 
branch  and  twig  of  the  sacred  tree  near-by,  were 
hundreds  of  little  rags  of  every  color,  torn  from 
their  owners '  garments  and  tied  there  in  the  hope 
of  getting  rid  of  some  disease.     Sometimes  an 


28  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

old  priest,  living  near  the  shrine  to  guard  it, 
would  come  out  with  his  begging-bowl,  asking  for 
a  gift  of  food  or  money. 

The  last  half-day  of  the  journey  lay  along  a 
high  plateau,  covered,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach  across  the  golden  hills,  with  vineyards 
laden  with  luscious  grapes.  In  each  vineyard  was 
built  a  high  booth  of  leaves,  set  on  poles  like  a 
bird^s  nest,  where  a  watchman  could  keep  a  sharp 
lookout  for  thieves.  As  the  travelers  passed  by, 
groups  of  men,  women,  and  children  would  look 
up,  with  hands  full  of  juicy  clusters,  make  a  sa- 
laam to  the  travelers,  and  run  out  to  offer  them 
grapes  or  invite  them  to  come  and  sit  in  the 
shade  of  their  booth. 

*  ^  They  are  people  from  Aintab, ' '  explained  Dr. 
Trowbridge.  *  ^  Each  family,  no  matter  how  poor, 
owns  a  vineyard,  small  or  big,  and  at  this  season 
they  come  and  camp  out  in  the  vineyards  to  *milk 
the  vines,'  as  they  say.  Some  time  you  will  be 
invited  to  spend  a  day  here  and  will  see  them 
treading  out  the  juice  in  great  stone  vats  with 
their  bare  feet,  then  boiling  it  down  into  molasses, 
and  finally  beating  the  molasses  with  twigs  until 
it  is  the  color  of  taffy  and  the  consistency  of 


THE  SPRING  OF  HEALING  29 

butter.  Aintab  is  famous  for  this  grape  butter. 
You  will  soon  be  getting  presents,  too,  of  all  sorts 
of  delicious  sweetmeats  made  from  the  grape 
juice. '  ^ 

At  last,  from  the  top  of  a  little  hill,  Dr.  Shepard 
and  his  wife  caught  sight  of  the  city  where  they 
were  to  live  and  work  for  the  Master  for  so  many 
years  to  come.  Surrounded  on  all  sides  by  bare 
brown  rolling  hills,  it  lay,  a  mass  of  low-roofed 
houses,  with  a  minaret  standing  out  here  and 
there,  the  ancient  castle  towering  up  at  one  side, 
a  huge  city  of  the  dead  lifting  its  black  stones 
at  the  other  side,  while  in  the  foreground  stood 
Central  Turkey  College. 

**  Aintab,  the  Spring  of  Healing,  ^^  said  Dr. 
Trowbridge.  ^  ^  Could  there  be  a  more  appropriate 
place  for  founding  a  hospital  and  a  medical  col- 
leger' 

At  first  sight  of  the  college  buildings,  the  big, 
white  horse,  Selim,  on  which  Mrs.  Shepard  was 
riding,  made  a  sudden  plunge  and  started  on  a 
dead  run  for  home.  This  disturbed  the  natives  far 
more  than  it  did  its  intrepid  rider. 

' '  Stop  him !  Stop  him ! ' '  shouted  the  muleteers, 
expecting  to  see  Mrs.  Shepard  thrown  at  any  mo- 
ment; but  her  girlhood  days  in  the  saddle  stood 


r 


30  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

her  in  good  stead,  and  with  graceful  ease  she 
allowed  her  spirited  horse  to  enjoy  his  gallop 
home. 

A  warm  welcome  from  the  little  group  of  mis- 
sionaries awaited  the  newcomers.  Within  a  few 
days  they  had  begun  classes  with  the  five  Ar- 
menian students  enrolled  in  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment, and  soon  they  were  hard  at  work  learning 
the  Turkish  language.  Even  before  they  could 
speak  the  language,  however,  they  began  to  see 
patients  who  came  thronging  to  the  dispensary, 
talking  to  them  through  an  interpreter.  Then  it 
was  that  the  doctor  understood  why  he  had  been 
asked  to  train  these  men  as  physicians.  These 
poor  people  had  no  one  to  care  for  them  or  to, 
teach  them  how  to  care  for  themselves.  A  few 
barbers,  bone-setters  and  herb-women  they  already 
had  among  them,  and  they  prescribed  strange  rem- 
edies. When  a  man  had  rheumatism,  the  usual 
treatment  for  it  was  to  open  a  sore  somewhere 
on  his  arm  or  leg,  and  keep  it  open  and  infected, 
so  that  the  pains  might  run  out.  For  fever,  a 
red  string  around  the  wrist  was  urged.  If  a  child 
broke  his  arm,  he  must  be  taken  to  the  chekeji 
[the  puller]  and  have  it  pulled  in  place,  and  some- 
times the  arm  was  bound  so  tightly  to  the  body 


THE  SPRING  OF  HEALING  31 

that  the  child  would  die  of  gangrene.  If  he  were 
bitten  by  a  dog,  a  hair  from  the  same  dog  must 
be  put  into  a  cup  of  water  and  he  must  drink  it 
down.  If  a  girl  had  a  sudden  fright,  she  must 
either  swallow  some  sizzling  hot  fat,  or  have  a 
red-hot  meat  skewer  pressed  against  her  neck.  A 
headache  must  be  cured  by  taking  a  dose  of  raki 
[whisky],  and  for  almost  any  ailment  leeches 
might  be  put  on  the  part  affected. 

What  a  motley  crowd  it  was  that  the  doctor 
found  in  the  waiting-room  on  that  first  day! 
There  were  people  like  those  he  had  seen  in  the 
villages  on  his  way  from  the  coast, — tall,  gaunt, 
rough  men,  with  their  great  goat^s-hair  cloaks 
thrown  over  their  shoulders.  These  were  Kurds 
who  lived  in  mountain  villages,  in  rude,  dark  little 
houses,  sharing  the  same  room  with  their  goats 
and  sheep.  Sometimes  they  did  not  even  have 
houses,  but  lived  in  their  black,  goat's-hair  tents, 
moving  their  flocks  about  from  place  to  place  on 
the  fertile  plain,  like  Abraham  of  old.  Wild  and 
ignorant  and  simple,  like  big  children  as  they 
were,  the  doctor,  in  days  to  come,  grew  to  know 
and  love  many  of  them  as  personal  friends. 
Though  they  thought  nothing  of  killing  a  man  for 
his  horse  or  purse,  their  doors  were  always  open 


32  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

for  a  guest,  the  best  they  had  was  his,  and  they 
would  defend  him  with  their  lives.  Though  rec- 
ognized as  Moslems,  they  would  often  deny  this 
faith,  and  many  of  them  had  strange  religious 
ideas  which  seemed  a  queer  mixture  of  Moham- 
medanism, Christianity,  and  Paganism.  Then 
there  were  the  people  from  the  city, — the  Turk 
with  his  red  fez;  with  white  turban  if  he  were  a 
teacher;  or  green,  if  he  were  a  descendant  of 
the  prophet;  or  just  a  small  striped  one,  if  he 
were  an  ordinary  butcher  or  tanner  or  shopkeeper. 
White  bloomers,  with  a  long  gown  belted  in  by  a 
handsome  white  girdle,  and  pointed  red  slippers 
completed  his  costume.  He  was  a  Moslem;  and 
every  day,  ^ve  times,  when  the  muezzin  called 
from  the  minaret,  ^^God  is  great,  God  is  great/'  he 
would  wash  his  hands  and  face  and  feet  and  say 
his  prayers.  He  was  the  fellow  at  the  top,  be- 
cause he  had  conquered  the  land,  and  it  was  his 
Sultan  who  sat  on  the  throne ;  and  so,  though  his 
Christian  neighbor  was  more  industrious  and  skil- 
ful and  educated  and  prosperous,  yet  he  must  re- 
main the  inferior.  The  Turk^s  religion  taught 
him  to  call  a  Christian  *^a  dog''  or  **a  pig''  and 
to  treat  him  accordingly. 

The  Christian  neighbors  were  the  Armenians 


THE  SPRING  OF  HEALING  33 

wlio,  many  years  before,  had  been  conquered  by 
the  Turks.  Centuries  before  any  missionaries 
had  come  from  America,  they  were  followers  of 
Christ;  but  their  Bible  was  in  a  language  they 
could  not  understand,  and  they  had  but  few 
schools  in  which  to  learn,  so  that  many  of  their 
priests  could  scarcely  read.  Though  they  were 
willing  to  die  for  their  religion,  too  often  it  did 
not  help  them  to  live  better  lives.  In  spite  of 
their  skill  and  industry,  they  were  so  oppressed 
and  so  restrained  in  many  ways  by  their  Turkish 
rulers  and  neighbors  that  they  had  little  chance 
to  prove  their  skill  or  worth. 

Dr.  Shepard  began  to  realize  that  these  people 
needed  something  more  than  the  healing  of  their 
dreadful  diseases.  They  needed  to  learn  that 
they  were  all  children  of  the  same  loving  Father 
and  therefore  brothers.  He  saw  that  only  by 
treating  every  one  with  the  same  loving  care,  just 
as  Jesus  did,  going  about  and  doing  good  to  all 
alike,  could  he  hope  to  teach  them  this  great 
lesson. 

By  the  end  of  the  first  year,  the  new  doctor 
and  his  wife  had  learned  enough  Turkish  to  say 
^'Dilini  geoster/'  [Show  your  tongue]  " Aghru 
neredef  [Where  is  the  pain?]  and  all  the  other 


34  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

phrases  needed  in  the  clinic,  so  that  they  could 
get  on  without  an  interpreter.  To  the  clinic  and 
dispensary  was  added  a  ward  for  men,  with  ten 
beds,  where  those  who  had  undergone  serious 
operations  could  be  cared  for.  A  Scotch  nurse, 
Miss  Arnott,  was  sent  to  take  charge  of  the  nurs- 
ing in  this  embryo  hospital.  There  was  no 
women's  ward  for,  though  the  Khanum  found 
much  work  to  do  among  the  women  in  the  Turkish 
harems,  and  more  in  the  Armenian  homes,  in  those 
qarly  days  no  one  would  think  of  allowing  a 
'Voman  to  go  to  a  hospital.  The  Moslem  woman 
was  called  by  her  husband,  * '  the  child, ' '  '  ^  the  ash 
dumper,''  or  ''the  lacking  one."  She  was  not 
worth  bothering  much  about.  When  a  villager 
was  urged  to  bring  his  wife  to  Aintab  for  treat- 
ment, he  only  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  declared 
it  would  cost  less  and  be  less  bother  to  get  a 
new  one. 

A  man  named  Manoog  [Little  Child],  a  great 
burly  Armenian,  with  a  broad  face  that  showed 
a  row  of  fine  white  teeth  when  he  smiled,  was 
placed  at  the  door  of  the  hospital  to  keep  in  order 
the  ever-growing  throngs  of  people  who  wished 
to  enter.  When  the  doctors  and  medical  students 
were  ready  to  begin  work,  he  would  open  the 


THE  SPRING  OF  HEALING  35 

doors  between  their  office  and  the  waiting-room, 
and  call  out,  "Eshi  geoder/'  [Old  eyes]  where- 
upon all  those  who  had  previously  had  their  eyes 
examined  would  come  in.  Then  would  come, 
^^Yeni  geozler,"  [New  eyes]  or  the  new  cases; 
and  woe  betide  any  person  who  tried  to  get  to  the 
doctor  before  his  turn.  Manoog  had  a  strong 
right  arm.  To  keep  the  *' turns"  straight,  each 
patient  was  given  a  card  with  a  number  on  one 
side  and  a  Bible  verse  on  the  other. 

^^Am  I  to  pound  this  text  up  and  swallow  it!" 
asked  a  woman  when  she  received  hers,  **or  am 
I  to  dissolve  it  in  water  and  drink  it?" 

Manoog  lost  one  of  his  fine  front  teeth  one  day, 
and  ever  after  his  smile  had  a  hole  in  it,  which 
he  regarded  proudly,  quite  as  a  soldier  would 
regard  an  honorable  service  stripe. 

It  happened  in  this  wise.  Dr.  Shepard's 
younger  brother  had  come  to  assist  him  in  the 
hospital.  He  was  taken  seriously  ill,  and  the  doc- 
tor was  camping  out  with  him,  in  a  tent  pitched 
on  a  hill  above  the  city.  Manoog  had  been  told 
to  bring  the  doctor  his  fine  Arab  horse  Benito. 
Swift,  gentle,  and  intelligent,  this  horse  had  been 
the  doctor's  devoted  companion  on  many  a  trip. 
As  Manoog  reached  the  valley  at  the  foot  of  the 


36  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

hill,  he  was  attacked  by  a  Kurdish  brigand  who 
thought  the  doctor's  horse  too  fine  to  lose. 

^^Dr.  Effendi,  Dr.  Etfendi/'  shouted  Manoog, 
using  the  Turkish  title  of  respect,  at  the  same 
instant  receiving  a  blow  from  the  butt  of  the 
robber's  gun.  The  blow  knocked  out  a  tooth  and 
silenced  Manoog.  Hearing  the  shout,  the  doctor's 
sick  brother  raised  himself  on  his  elbow. 

*^Get  your  gun,  get  your  gun!"  he  called. 

The  doctor,  who  heard  nothing,  thought  he  was 
wandering  in  his  mind. 

^^ There's  trouble,  Fred,  get  your  gun,"  he  re- 
peated. 

By  the  time  the  doctor  had  run  out  with  his 
gun,  however,  the  thief  was  off  with  the  horse. 
The  Kurdish  brigand  was  afterward  caught  and 
imprisoned,  but  Benito  had  been  sold,  and  the 
doctor  never  again  saw  the  beautiful  horse  in 
which  he  had  taken  such  pride. 

The  medical  school,  which  had  begun  with  five 
students,  thrived  and  grew,  until,  in  the  next  few 
years,  the  number  increased  to  eighteen.  In  spite 
of  baffling  deficiencies  in  the  way  of  equipment, 
and  the  loss,  one  after  another,  from  various 
causes,  of  the  American  professors  and  nurses, 
several  young  Armenian  doctors  were  graduated. 


> 


I.     THE    DOCTOK    MAKES    AN    EXAMINATION 


II.     WRITING    A    PRESCRIPTION    UNDER    DIFFICULTIES 


THE  SPRING  OF  HEALING  37 

Here  is  the  description  of  a  typical  day's  work 
for  Dr.  Shepard  at  this  time,  in  his  own  words : 

*'I  was  called  down  to  the  office  to  see  a  patient 
before  prayers.  (We  have  our  morning  prayers 
before  breakfast.)  After  breakfast,  I  found  a 
girl  and  her  mother  waiting  to  see  me  about  the 
former  going  to  the  Girls'  College  in  Marash  next 
year.  Spent  the  next  two  hours  in  study,  inter- 
rupted by  five  patients.  Got  onto  my  horse  and 
visited  three  patients  in  the  city  (two  of  them 
charity  patients,  about  the  usual  proportion,)  and 
back  in  time  for  my  classes  with  whom  the  next 
two  hours  were  spent.  Lunched  at  one.  Filled  my 
pockets  with  instruments  and  chloroform  bottle 
and  back  into  the  city  again  to  perform  a  sur- 
gical operation  at  the  house  of  a  patient.  Back 
to  the  hospital  where  a  crowd  of  patients  awaited 
me.  Between  that  time  and  dinner  I  performed 
eight  more  important  surgical  operations.  After 
dinner,  rode  to  the  college  to  see  Mr.  Trowbridge 
on  business.  Back  again,  and  wanted  to  go  to 
bed,  but  had  to  make  my  hospital  rounds  for  the 
day,  as  there  were  fourteen  poor  sufferers  in  the 
wards  anxiously  awaiting  me. 

*^  To-day  at  clinic  I  counted  the  patients,  both 
old  and  new,  which  fell  to  my  lot,  and  they  num- 
bered just  eighty-six,  and  the  clinic  not  quite  so 
large  as  usual  in  the  number  of  new  names  written. 
Well!    I  guess  I  have  said  enough  to  show  you 


38  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

that  we  have  work  for  another  man  to  do,  if  we 
can  get  him." 

All  other  difficulties  might  be  overcome  by  in- 
genuity and  tireless  effort,  such  as  is  shown  in 
this  letter;  but  *' money  makes  the  mare  go/' 
even  in  missionary  effort.  In  1886,  the  college 
was  in  such  dire  need  of  funds  that  Dr.  Shepard 
decided  he  must  go  with  his  senior  class  to  Aleppo 
and  give  them  practical  instruction  there,  while 
he  earned  fees  from  wealthy  Turks,  Jews,  and 
Armenians  of  that  city;  for,  according  to  the 
Turkish  saying, 

''Famous  is  Aleppo  for  wealth, 
Kills  for  dirt, 
Marash  for  water, 
Aintab  for  lies.'' 

The  doctor  almost  lost  his  life  in  this  first  of 
many  efforts  to  support  both  college  and  hospital. 
After  forty  days  of  successful  work,  which  kept 
him  and  his  students  more  than  busy,  he  was  sud- 
denly taken  ill  with  the  cholera  nostra,  which  was 
prevalent  in  that  city  of  heat,  flies,  dust,  and  foul 
drinking  water.  In  twenty-four  hours  he  lost 
twenty-five  pounds  and  was  fast  sinking  into  that 


THE  SPRING  OF  HEALING  39 

stage  of  collapse  from  which  few  can  be  revived; 
but  before  he  lost  consciousness,  there  came  to 
him,  in  a  flash,  almost  as  if  by  a  special  revela- 
tion, the  memory  of  a  new  and  untried  remedy. 
Immediately  he  acted  on  the  suggestion.  It 
worked  and  his  life  was  saved.  He  had  to  give 
up  further  effort  for  that  summer,  however,  and 
retire  to  a  summer  camp  with  his  wife  and  two 
little  daughters,  to  regain  his  strength  for  the 
work  of  the  coming  fall. 

Mrs.  Shepard,  who  had  been  doing  her  share 
in  keeping  up  the  school  by  teaching  medical  bot- 
any and  other  subjects  in  addition  to  her  large 
clinics,  city  practise,  and  the  care  of  her  household, 
joined  him  for  a  much  needed  rest.  Mrs.  Shepard 
had  been  a  botanist,  ever  since  her  girlhood  days, 
spent  in  the  fern-clad  mountains  of  the  Hawaiian 
Islands.  Many  an  excursion  did  she  and  the  doc- 
tor take  together,  to  some  mountain  peak  or  deep 
valley,  to  return  laden  with  rare  plants.  On  one 
such  trip,  seeing  a  rare  flower  which  Mrs.  Shepard 
wished  for  her  collection,  near  the  top  of  an  in- 
accessible cliff,  the  doctor  took  his  revolver  and 
shot  the  stem  in  two,  then  picked  up  the  flower 
and  handed  it  to  his  w^fe  with  a  bow. 

The  struggle  to  keep  up   the  medical  school 


40  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

proved  to  be  a  losing  struggle.  The  people  of 
Aintab  and  its  surrounding  villages,  already  poor, 
were  further  impoverished  by  the  terrible  famine 
which  came  upon  them  through  drought.  Fees 
which  came  in  from  students  and  patients  were 
not  enough  to  cover  costs.  Again  Dr.  Shepard 
went  to  Aleppo,  to  try  to  save  the  situation,  taking 
his  little  family  with  him  into  the  terrible  heat  of 
that  city.  By  this  time,  the  new  doctor  had 
gained  such  a  reputation  that  the  wealthy  were 
eager  to  pay  any  fee  he  might  ask,  and  he  was 
working,  now,  for  fees  for  his  medical  school. 
One  day,  when  he  made  a  call  in  a  distant  part 
of  the  city,  the  patient  offered  him  only  a 
mejidieh  [a  silver  coin  worth  eighty  cents]. 
"With  a  true  instinct  of  how  to  meet  the  Oriental, 
the  doctor  tossed  it  back  across  the  room  to  him 
with  the  single  word  ^^  Ayih!''  [Shame.]  Needless 
to  say,  he  received  the  proper  fee. 

When,  in  1888,  the  health  of  Dr.  Trowbridge 
gave  way,  the  struggling  little  medical  school,  be- 
gun with  high  hopes  and  carried  on  under  diffi- 
culties and  with  such  great  sacrifice,  was  finally 
given  up.  Twenty-one  young  Armenians,  how- 
ever, had  been  graduated.  Many  of  them  became 
eminent  physicians,  both  in  Turkey  and  in  Amer- 


THE  SPRING  OF  HEALING  41 

ica.  Of  these  men,  Dr.  Altounyan,  one  of  those 
seniors  who  had  assisted  in  the  first  trip  to 
Aleppo,  became  the  most  eminent  physician  and 
surgeon  of  that  great  city,  eventually  building 
and  equipping  there,  by  his  own  efforts,  a  beauti- 
ful, modern  hospital.  Such  wonderful  influence 
did  he  have  through  his  work  there,  among  rich 
and  poor  alike,  that,  although  an  Armenian,  he 
was  allowed  by  Djemal  Pasha  to  keep  his  hospital 
open  and  carry  on  his  full  work,  through  the 
whole  period  of  the  late  war. 

Another  of  the  original  four  students  became 
the  most  eminent  native  physician  of  Aintab.  For 
many  years  he  was  associated  with  his  friend 
and  teacher  in  the  hospital  there  and  spent  many 
a  vacation  with  him  in  camp.  Dr.  Habib  was  a 
great  influence  for  everything  that  was  best  in 
his  own  community,  and  did  much  to  win  the 
friendship  of  the  bigoted  and  prejudiced  Turks, 
finally  giving  his  life  in  the  service  of  the  army 
during  the  war.  A  third  student.  Dr.  Bezjein,  still 
stands  at  his  post  as  first  assistant  at  the  hos- 
pital in  Aintab.  After  many  years  of  service 
with  his  beloved  friend  and  teacher,  he  stood  by 
him  during  the  tragedies  of  the  war,  attended 
him  during  his  last  illness,  and  in  time  welcomed 


42  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

to  Aintab  the  doctor's  son,  on  whose  young  shoul- 
ders the  father's  mantle  has  fallen.  Each  of 
these  men  has  been  giving  out,  throughout  his 
life,  that  influence  of  the  Master  which  came  to 
him  from  the  teacher  who  lived  and  served  among 
them  as  *^He  that  serveth." 


ni 

MIEACLES  OF  THE  SUEGEON'S  KNIFE 

TEN  days'  journey  by  caravan  from  Aintab, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Tigris  River,  lies  the 
black  city  of  Diarbekir.  An  ancient  wall  of  mas- 
sive black  lava  rock  surrounds  the  city,  defying 
the  outside  world,  with  its  forty  black  turrets. 
Black  houses  line  the  black-paved  streets,  and 
black  minarets  tower  above  black-domed  mosques. 
Many,  too,  were  the  black  thoughts  in  the  minds 
of  the  dwellers  in  the  black  city,  and  many  were 
the  black  deeds  done  within  those  massive  walls. 
On  the  flat  roofs  of  the  houses  surrounding  a  mar- 
ble-paved court,  in  the  center  of  this  city,  stood  a 
throng  of  gaily-dressed  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, dangerously  jostling  and  pushing  in  order 
to  look  down  into  the  court  below,  where  a  crowd 
of  sick  people  waited  their  turn  to  be  examined 
by  Shippet  (for  so  they  called  Dr.  Shepard),  the 
wonder-worker  from  Aintab.  There  he  sat  at 
one  side,  with  pen  and  prescription-pad  in  hand, 

43 


44  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

a  short,  broad-shouldered  man,  with  a  quick  turn 
of  the  head,  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  and  a  gentle 
touch  and  tone  which  spoke  of  power  and  sym- 
pathy. 

^'They  say  he  can  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind, 
and  take  stones  out  of  people,  and  make  new  arms 
and  legs,  and  new  noses,  ^*  the  awed  whisper  went 
about.  ^'Even  when  a  person  is  dead,  they  say 
he  can  bring  him  back  to  life.'' 

With  almost  incredible  swiftness  and  ease,  the 
doctor  had  discovered  what  the  trouble  was  with 
one  patient;  had  written  his  prescription,  given 
instructions  about  his  medicine,  or  told  him  he 
must  have  an  operation;  and  then  he  had  turned 
to  another. 

There  was  a  sudden  commotion  in  the  crowd. 
A  great  tall  man,  gasping  for  breath  and  sur- 
rounded by  several  women  in  a  high  state  of  ex- 
citement, came  into  the  court. 

''Give  way,  give  way,''  begged  the  women. 
**The  doctor  must  see  him  quick!  He  has  swal- 
lowed a  turkey-bone  and  is  choking  to  death." 

With  a  quick  motion,  the  doctor  was  beside  him 
before  the  man  had  come  halfway  across  the 
court.  One  glance,  one  touch,  and  then  swift  in- 
structions to  his  assistant  to  boil  certain  instru- 


MIRACLES  OF  THE  SURGEON'S  KNIFE  45 

ments  and  make  ready  for  the  operation.  Then 
Dr.  Shepard  turned  quietly  to  the  next  patient. 
In  a  few  moments  there  was  a  sudden  scream 
from  a  woman,  followed  by  the  wailing  for  the 
dead.  Those  on  the  roof  almost  fell  off  in  their 
eagerness  to  see  what  was  happening.  The  man 
had  suddenly  collapsed  and  was  lying — breath- 
less, purple,  motionless — on  the  marble  pavement. 

*' Quick — the  knife!'*  cried  the  doctor,  spring- 
ing to  the  window.  In  one  instant  the  instrument 
was  in  his  hand,  in  the  next  it  was  plunged  into 
the  windpipe  of  the  apparently  dead  man.  There 
was  a  sucking  gasp,  the  man  took  a  full  breath, 
the  purple  faded  from  his  face,  and  within  the 
hour  he  rose  and  walked  home.  The  women  lin- 
gered to  kiss  the  doctor's  feet  again  and  again, 
and  the  throngs  on  the  roof  chattered  excitedly; 
while  each  carried  home  a  bigger  tale  than  his 
neighbor  of  the  miracle  of  the  great  surgeon's 
knife. 

It  was  not  all  in  a  day  that  Dr.  Shepard  had 
gained  his  reputation  in  this  far-otf  city  of  the 
interior.  In  those  early  pioneer  days,  men  had 
been  afraid  of  the  foreign  doctor.  One  day,  when 
Dr.  Shepard  first  came  to  Aintab,  he  stopped  be- 
side a  near-by  village  fountain,  where  later  he 


46        ■  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

could  not  snatch  a  moment's  rest  for  the  crowds 
of  patients  that  thronged  about  him.  Near  the 
fountain  stood  a  man  with  eyes  red  and  swollen. 
''Let  me  look  at  your  eyes,  my  father/'  said  the 
doctor ;  ' '  perhaps  I  can  cure  them  for  you. ' '  But 
he  was  suspicious  of  the  foreigner  and  would  not 
let  the  doctor  touch  his  eyes.  Then,  as  one  after 
another  came,  half  in  fear,  to  the  hospital  and 
went  back  not  only  with  his  eyes  opened,  his 
tumor  removed,  or  his  leg  straightened,  but  with 
tales  of  the  wonderful  way  in  which  he  had  been 
cared  for — of  the  doctor's  sympathy  and  the 
nurse's  tender  ministrations — others,  too,  wanted 
to  ''come  and  see,"  until  farther  and  farther 
spread  the  fame  of  the  wonder-worker,  and 
Shippet  became  a  name  to  conjure  with. 

From  beside  the  orange  groves  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean coast,  a  blind  man  heard  and  came  and 
received  his  sight.  Going  back  home,  he  told  the 
wondrous  story.  Ten  other  blind  men,  each  with 
staff  in  hand,  started  to  walk  the  weary  one  hun- 
dred miles  to  the  Spring  of  Healing.  But  alas, 
when  they  reached  the  wonder-worker,  he  could 
but  tell  them  that  he  was  powerless  to  help. 

It  was  the  hardest  task  the  skilful  doctor  had 
to  face, — to  tell  poor,  trusting  ones  like  these 


MIRACLES  OF  THE  SURGEON'S  KNIFE  47 

that  he  could  do  nothing  to  help  them;  for  his 
great  heart  was  tender  as  a  child's  and  he  could- 
never  even  read  aloud  a  tale  of  pathos  without 
a  telltale  choking  in  his  voice.  Yet  his  patients 
used  to  say  he  had  a  way  of  telling  them  there 
was  no  hope  which,  in  itself,  brought  hope  and 
courage ;  and  often,  when  he  had  done  his  utmost, 
he  would  tell  of  the  Great  Physician  who  alone 
had  power  to  save.  Here  is  the  story  of  such  a 
case,  as  one  of  the  American  nurses  tells  it: 

*'One  night  he  came  home,  after  a  long  day's 
work,  so  unusually  tired  and  depressed  that  I  was 
much  disturbed,  and  tried  to  find  out  the  cause 
of  it.  This  is  what  he  told  me.  A  Kurd  had 
brought  his  precious  boy  on  a  many  days'  journey 
from  the  mountains  to  see  Shippet;  the  lad  was 
placed  on  a  ladder  padded  with  a  mattress  and 
laid  across  an  animal.  Everything  else  had 
failed;  there  was  one  hope  left  and  that  was 
Shippet.  Didn't  he  cure  everybody  who  ever 
came  to  him?  Of  course  Shippet  could  help  his 
boy,  and  he  was  always  ready  to  do  everything 
he  could  for  anybody.  With  this  hope  in  his 
heart,  the  poor  father  had  comforted  himself  as 
he  was  making  the  tedious  journey  of  many  days 
with  the  sick  boy.     With  the  first  glance.  Dr. 


48  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

Shepard  saw  that  the  patient  was  in  the  last 
stages  of  tuberculosis.  Shippet  could  not  help 
him.  It  was  never  his  method  to  withhold  a 
truth  that  must  be  told,  but  the  telling  of  it  had 
utterly  used  up  his  strength.  Later,  I  heard  an 
account  of  this,  as  told  by  a  young  man  who  was 
present.  The  father  was  so  dazed  by  the  sad 
news  that  he  could  not  take  it  in,  so  he  remained 
sitting  there  in  the  office  for  over  an  hour;  and 
every  little  while  he  would  say,  ^Dr.  Effendi 
[Sir  Doctor],  what  do  you  sayT  and  then,  with 
the  same  infinite  patience  and  kindness,  he  would 
reply,  ^Father,  there  is  no  hope,  except  in  God,' 
and  then  he  would  try  to  help  him  to  find  that 
help  and  comfort.'' 

One  of  Dr.  Shepard 's  operations,  which  the  peo- 
ple appreciated  greatly,  was  the  making  of  a  nose 
from  the  *'ring  finger"  of  the  patient's  left  hand. 
The  sore  kno\\Ti  as  the  ^^  Aleppo  Button"  often  left 
a  disfiguring  scar  on  the  nose.  Of  course,  a  girl 
with  such  a  scar  was  at  a  disadvantage,  when  it 
came  to  getting  married. 

^^Hush!"  said  the  nurse  in  the  hospital  to  a 
tiny  girl  who  had  had  an  operation  to  remove 
a  scar  from  her  nose  and  was  then  undergoing 
the  painful  dressing.    ^^You  will  be  a  handsome 


MIRACLES  OF  THE  SURGEON'S  KNIFE  49 

little  bride  some  day.  Think  of  that  and  don't 
cry/'  And  the  little  bride-to-be  bravely  choked 
back  the  tears. 

Dr.  Shepard  always  endeavored  to  keep  abreast 
with  the  times  in  medicine  and  surgery.  After  a 
heavy  day  of  work,  a  long  evening  was  often  spent 
in  reading  the  latest  and  best  medical  journals. 
Often  he  would  find  a  method  described  which 
he  himself  had  already  discovered  and  put  in 
practise.  A  notable  example  of  the  doctor's  de- 
votion to  his  profession,  and  of  his  keeping  pace 
with  its  advance,  was  his  wide  and  successful  use 
of  spinal  anesthesia,  before  he  had  ever  seen  it 
performed,  in  the  cases  of  such  as  could  not  take 
the  usual  anesthetic. 

The  great  secret  of  the  doctor's  success,  how- 
ever, in  breaking  down  prejudice  and  winning  the 
friendship  and  confidence  of  all  people,  was  that 
he  treated  rich  and  poor,  Turk,  Kurd,  Armenian, 
Christian,  Jew  or  Moslem,  all  alike.  Everyone 
who  came  in  contact  with  him,  no  matter  how 
rough  or  ignorant  or  wicked  he  might  be,  felt 
the  Christlike  spirit  of  brotherly  kindness  and 
self-forgetful,  humble  service  that  characterized 
the  work  of  the  skilled  physician. 

Not  only  for  the  doctor  to  enter,  with  his  mes- 


50  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

sage  of  love,  were  hearts  and  doors  opened,  but 
for  others  who  were  carrying  the  same  message. 
One  of  the  early  operations  which  Dr.  Shepard 
performed  was  on  the  son  of  a  rough  and  wicked 
Turk  who  lived  in  a  village  four  days'  journey 
from  Aintab.  Years  afterward,  the  Protestant 
preacher  of  the  village  was  being  stoned  to  death, 
for  preaching  the  gospel  which  the  people  did 
not  want  to  hear.  He  fled  to  the  house  of  this 
Turk  for  protection. 

*^Who  are  you,''  asked  the  Turk,  ^'and  why  do 
you  come  to  me?" 

^^I  am  the  Protestant  preacher  from  Aintab," 
replied  the  man. 

^^Ha,  come  in,"  said  the  Turk,  and  shut  his 
doors  against  the  mob. 

Then  the  mob  appealed  to  the  governor,  who 
sent  a  policeman  to  the  Turk  with  orders  that 
he  should  give  the  preacher  over  to  his  perse- 
<jutors. 

*'The  man  is  a  guest  of  mine,"  he  replied;  ^*a 
friend  of  my  friend  Dr.  Shepard.  I  have  ten 
sons  and  serving  men,  all  well  armed.  If  you 
think  you  can  take  my  guest,  come  and  try. ' ' 

In  many  ways  did  the  people  express  their  grat- 
itude and  appreciation.    A  poor  Kurdish  woman 


MIRACLES  OF  THE  SURGEON'S  KNIFE  51 

from  some  distant  village  would  tramp  long  miles 
to  bring  to  the  doctor  her  humble  gift  of  curds  or 
cheese  or  butter  churned  in  a  hairy  goatskin  bag. 
The  man  with  the  vineyard  or  orchard  would 
send  in  a  basket  of  fruit  or  of  grapes.  The  doctor 
often  had  quite  a  menagerie  in  his  little  walled-in 
garden;  for  all  kinds  of  animals,  from  the  graceful 
gazelle  and  domestic  goat  and  sheep  to  the  laugh- 
ing hyena  and  the  Arab  horse,  were  brought  in 
as  thank-offerings.  But  the  doctor  made  his  pa- 
tients feel  that  his  all-controlling  desire  was  to 
minister  to  them,  and  in  doing  this,  his  effort 
was  always  to  point  them  to  the  Great  Physician 
as  the  one  to  whom  praise  was  due. 

From  a  four  days*  journey  beyond  the  Eu- 
phrates River,  near  the  city  of  Oorfa,  a  man  had 
brought  his  blind  daughter  to  the  hospital. 
Though  nothing  but  a  girl,  she  was  the  only  one 
left  of  the  many  children  in  the  family,  and  there- 
fore she  was  unusually  precious. 

*^I  can  operate  on  her,''  said  the  doctor,  after 
examining  the  eyes,  ^^but  her  sight  will  come 
back  very  slowly.  You  should  wait  here  a  long 
time.'* 

But  the  father  would  not  consent.  Surely,  the 
operation  was  all  that  was  necessary.     Had  he 


52  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

not  talked  with  people  whose  eyes  had  been  op- 
erated on  and  who  could  use  them  in  a  few  weeks  ? 
So,  in  spite  of  what  the  doctor  told  him,  he  took 
her  back  to  her  home  as  soon  as  she  could  travel. 
*'But  she  can  hardly  see  at  all,^'  said  friends  when 
they  reached  home.  ^^All  that  trouble  and  ex- 
pense so  that  she  can  tell  night  from  day!"  And 
the  father  had  to  acknowledge  his  disappoint- 
ment. 

About  a  year  later,  Dr.  Shepard  was  called  by 
telegram  to  the  city  of  Oorfa,  to  an  urgent  case. 
Eiding  day  and  night,  with  but  an  hour's  stop 
now  and  then  to  feed  his  horse  or  snatch  a  nap, 
he  reached  the  city  in  less  than  half  the  usual 
time.  As  he  came  into  the  market-place,  he  found 
it  crowded  with  people  at  the  baker's  booth  wait- 
ing for  bread,  men  and  boys  with  great  trays  of 
food  on  their  heads  calling  their  wares,  and  little 
children  and  dogs  running  about.  Although  stiff 
and  travel-stained,  he  was  obliged  to  dismount 
and  lead  his  horse,  whose  feet  slid  on  the  slippery 
paving-stones  as  they  threaded  their  way  through 
the  jostling  crowd.  Suddenly,  out  of  the  throng, 
darted  a  man,  and  falling  at  the  doctor's  muddy 
feet,  embraced  and  kissed  them,  calling  blessings 
unnumbered  on  his  head. 


I.     THE    WALLS    OF    THE    "  BLACK    CITY  "    OF    DL\RBEKIB 


II.     VIEW    OF    CENTRAL    TURKEY    COLLEGE,    AIXTAB 


MIRACLES  OF  THE  SURGEON'S  KNIFE  53 

'^Wlio  are  you,  brother? ''  asked  the  doctor. 

**Why,  don't  you  know!''  replied  the  man.  **I 
am  the  father  of  Sara  who  was  blind.  AVhen  I 
took  her  home,  she  could  hardly  see,  but  now  she 
can  do  everything,  even  to  working  at  her  em- 
broidery frame.     God  bless  you!" 

*^Do  not  praise  me,  praise  God  through  whom 
the  cure  has  come,  my  brother.  It  is  through  his 
power  alone  that  I  can  bring  sight  to  the  blind,'' 
he  added,  looking  around  on  the  crowd  who  had 
gathered  to  witness  the  scene. 

One  summer,  when  the  doctor  was  away  at  his 
mountain  camp,  a  messenger  came  hot-footed  from 
Aintab,  begging  him  to  return  and  see  a  wealthy 
Catholic  who  was  sick  unto  death.  When  Dr. 
Shepard  reached  the  man's  home,  he  found  the 
patient  needed  an  operation  for  abscess  of  the 
liver,  caused  by  hard  drinking.  The  operation 
was  successful;  the  man  got  well  and  gave  up 
drink.  Some  years  later,  when  Mrs.  Shepard 
was  visiting  in  his  home,  she  saw  a  little  shrine, 
with  an  olive-oil  wick,  burning  before  a  picture 
of  the  Virgin  Mary. 

^'It  has  never  gone  out  since  the  operation  on 
my  son, ' '  said  the  old  mother.  *  *  This  is  the  only 
way  I  have  of  showing  my  gratitude  to   God, 


S4  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

Wlien  the  doctor  himself  was  so  ill  with  typhoid," 
she  went  on  to  say,  *^and  they  were  saying  all 
over  the  city  that  he  was  dying,  I  knew  that  he 
would  not  die.  He  is  the  father  of  the  poor;  and 
I  was  praying,  and  many  others  were  praying,  so 
he  could  not  die." 

In  more  senses  than  one  was  Dr.  Shepard  truly 
the  ''father  of  the  poor."  Five  years  after  he 
reached  Aintab,  a  terrible  famine  came  upon  the 
land.  During  this  trying  time,  the  doctor  made 
a  tour  of  some  of  the  villages  on  the  Adana  plain. 

**It  was  a  sad  sight,"  he  wrote,  ''this  great 
fertile  plain  as  desolate  as  Sahara.  Village  after 
village  was  completely  deserted  or  had  a  single 
family  left  to  guard  it.  Very  little  grain  had  been 
sown  or  planted  and  what  had  been  sown  was 
dried  up  from  the  root.  Cotton  sowed  in  the  black 
soil  was  withered  as  by  fire." 

Many  of  the  people  sold  their  beds  and  clothing 
and  were  eating  leaves  of  wild  mustard,  turnip^ 
and  other  plants,  while  the  plains  were  strewci 
with  dead  sheep  and  Angora  goats.  The  last  cow 
or  sheep,  and  in  some  cases  the  last  measure  of 
wheat,  had  been  seized  for  taxes  by  a  pitiless  gov- 
ernment. "The  doctor's  purse  has  a  hole  in  the 
bottom,"  the  people  used  to  say,  and  many  a 


MIRACLES  OF  THE  SURGEON'S  KNIFE  65 

coin  found  its  way  through  that  hole  into  the 
hands  of  some  starving  child  or  woman. 

Many  women  came  every  day,  begging  the 
Khanum  to  give  them  some  work  that  they  might 
feed  their  children.  Beginning  with  the  coarse 
but  beautiful  lace  and  embroidery  they  knew  how 
to  make,  she  taught  them  to  use  fine  materials 
in  forms  which  could  be  sold  in  America.  From 
this  humble  beginning,  grew  a  large  industry 
which  spread  all  over  the  empire  and  gave  em- 
ployment to  thousands  of  wom.en  who,  before  that 
time,  could  do  nothing  but  spin  cotton  or  weave 
cloth  and  earn  but  a  few  cents  a  day.  Giving  them 
this  new  work,  with  better  wages,  raised  the 
standard  of  wages  for  women  in  many  other 
cities  besides  Aintab.  In  this  city,  the  work  was 
always  known  as  *^The  Hospital  Work.^^ 

**  Theirs  is  the  religion  of  kindness,  the  true 
religion,''  the  people  said,  **else  why  should  they, 
away  out  there  in  America,  care  how  many  of 
us  die  of  starvation.'' 

More  than  miracles  of  the  surgeon's  knife,  more 
than  medicine,  more  than  relief  for  the  poor,  the 
doctor  found  the  people  needed  to  learn  how  to 
live  in  order  to  keep  well.  Called  to  a  case  of 
smallpox  in  the  city,  he  found  a  group  of  friends 


56  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

and  relatives  sitting  around  on  the  floor  where 
the  patient's  mattress  was  spread.  When  he 
urged  them  to  stay  away,  ^ '  Oh,  we  should  not  dare 
to  stay  away,"  they  would  say;  ^^the  sick  per- 
son's feelings  would  be  dreadfully  hurt/'  Some- 
times, as  Jesus  did  in  the  house  of  Jairus,  the 
doctor  was  obliged  to  send  away  people  who  were 
crowding  about  a  very  sick  patient,  waiting  for 
her  to  die,  so  that  they  might  take  part  immedi- 
ately in  the  wail  of  mourning. 

When  a  person  was  taken  sick,  especially  if 
he  had  a  skin  disease,  he  was  urged  to  go  to  the 
Turkish  bath.  Here,  after  undressing  in  a  cool, 
outside  room,  he  wrapped  himself  in  a  large 
gaily-colored  square  of  cloth,  put  on  some  wooden 
clogs,  and  stepped  into  a  steaming  inner  room. 
This  was  a  hug-e  room,  paved  with  stones  that 
were  heated  from  beneath.  Volumes  of  steam 
poured  into  it  from  the  large,  arched  window  of 
the  huge,  hot-water  caldron.  Hot  and  cold  water 
flowed  from  faucets  into  little  stone  basins,  and 
the  whole  place  was  echoing  with  the  shouts  of 
men  trying  to  make  themselves  heard  while  jos- 
tling each  other  to  get  at  the  water  first.  What 
a  perfect  incubator  for  germs !  But  these  people 
had  never  heard  of  germs. 


MIRACLES  OF  THE  SURGEON'S  KNIFE  67 

The  doctor,  and  especially  the  foreign  doctor, 
in  those  early  days  was  always  the  last  resort. 
Called  in  winter  to  see  a  patient  in  a  poor  home, 
Dr.  Shepard  rode  down  the  narrow,  paved  street 
between  high  stone  walls.  Entering  one  of  the 
gates  in  the  wall,  and  passing  through  the  little 
courtyard  to  the  one  single  room  which  served 
as  bed-room,  dining-room,  and  living-room  for  the 
whole  family,  he  found  the  poor  sufferer  lying  on 
his  mattress  on  the  floor,  with  a  fever  and  cough 
which  told  of  the  last  stages  of  tuberculosis.  The 
cracks  in  the  windows  were  pasted  up  with  strips 
of  paper  and  the  room  was  unheated,  except  for 
a  small  brazier  of  hot  ashes  placed  under  a  stool 
with  a  quilt  thrown  over  it.  The  thinly-clad  chil- 
dren were  huddled  on  the  floor  around  this  stool, 
sticking  their  hands  and  feet  under  the  quilt  to 
keep  them  warm.  At  night,  other  mattresses  and 
quilts  were  spread  to  form  the  bedroom,  and  the 
quilts  were  drawn  tightly  over  the  faces  of  the 
sleepers,  to  keep  out  what  little  fresh  air  might 
be  in  the  room.  At  meal-time  a  tray  was  brought 
in,  with  a  dish  of  food  from  which  the  whole 
family  ate,  dipping  out  morsels  with  bits  broken 
from  big,  thin  sheets  of  bread.  Was  it  surpris- 
ing that  whole  families  were  wiped  out  by  the 


58  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

dread  disease  which  had,  at  first,  attacked  but 
one?  The  doctor  put  up  a  stiff  fight  against  the 
** White  Plague''  which  carried  off  so  many  vic- 
tims, and  tried  to  teach  the  people  the  value  of 
fresh  air  and  cleanliness.  There  was  but  one 
tuberculosis  sanitarium  in  the  whole  Turkish  Em- 
pire. One  of  the  doctor's  fondest  dreams  was  to 
establish  another  in  Aintab.  But  it  was  the  same 
story  as  before.  There  was  no  one  in  America 
to  catch  the  vision  and  furnish  the  needed  funds. 
There  was  no  new  recruit  to  offer  himself  for 
such  a  service. 

All  the  rubbish  and  garbage  from  the  houses 
in  Aintab  were  thrown  out  into  the  street,  and  the 
'dogs  were  the  only  ones  expected  to  take  care  of 
it.  The  waste  water  of  the  city  was  carried  off 
by  a  foul-smelling,  open  gutter  down  the  center 
of  the  street.  Aintab,  the  Spring  of  Healing,  was 
named  after  the  magnificent,  gushing  spring,  some 
miles  distant,  from  which  the  water  supply  was 
brought  to  the  city  through  an  old  Eoman  aque- 
duct. The  water  could  not  have  been  purer  at 
its  source,  but  as  the  watercourse  ran  under  every 
street  of  the  town,  ^  each  house  had  its  well-shaft 
through  which  the  bucket  was  dropped  to  dip 
up  water  from  the   common   supply.     Cholera, 


MIRACLES  OF  THE  SURGEON'S  KNIFE  59 

typhoid,  and  dysentery  germs  might,  and  often 
did,  go  down  with  the  bucket;  and  the  spring  of 
healing  became  the  spring  of  death. 

In  the  summer  of  1891,  a  terrible  epidemic  of 
cholera  broke  out  in  the  city.  A  traveler  came 
into  Aintab,  sick  unto  death  with  cholera.  Find- 
ing a  refuge  in  the  yard  of  the  mosque,  he  died 
there,  and  there  he  was  bathed  and  prepared  for 
the  funeral.  The  water  ran  into  the  watercourse 
near  its  head,  and  germs  were  distributed  all  over 
the  city. 

*' Flowing  water  cannot  be  contaminated,''  said 
the  priest  at  the  mosque.  ^  *It  purifies  itself  within 
a  few  feet." 

But  the  deaths  increased  and  a  hurry  call  was 
sent  to  Dr.  Shepard,  in  his  distant  mountain  camp. 
Within  a  few  hours  the  Big  Little  Doctor  had 
taken  command.  He  marshaled  all  the  doctors 
and  druggists  in  the  city,  and  organized  them 
into  *^day"  and  '^  night"  corps,  to  fight  the  dread 
disease.  In  all  the  churches  and  mosques  they 
gave  public  lectures,  telling  the  people  that  they 
must  cook  all  solid  food  and  boil  everything  they 
drank.  **Must  we  drink  the  water  boiling  hot?" 
inquired  one  of  the  hearers. 

The  Christians  obeyed,  and  fewer  and  fewer 


60  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

were  taken  sick.  But  tlie  Moslems  said, '  ^  Of  what 
use?  If  it  is  written  on  our  foreheads  that  we 
shall  die,  we  die;  if  it  is  written  that  we  shall 
live,  we  live.  Of  what  use  is  it  to  cook  our  food 
and  boil  the  water  we  drink!"  And  many  died. 
The  doctor's  brave  fight,  however,  had  saved 
many  lives,  and  the  new  graves  in  Aintab  were 
fewer  by  far  than  in  the  neighboring  towns. 

After  it  was  all  over,  and  the  doctor  was  re- 
turning to  his  camp,  he  stopped  for  lunch  at  the 
spring  of  a  little  Turkish  village.  The  usual 
throng  of  patients  gathered  about  him,  under  the 
shadow  of  a  great  sycamore  tree. 

*^Did  the  cholera  come  to  your  villager*  in- 
quired the  doctor. 

**Yes,"  was  the  reply. 

**And  did  many  of  your  people  dieT' 

*'  Oh,  no,  Allah  be  praised!  No  one  in  our  vil- 
lage died.  There  were,  indeed,  fifteen  or  twenty 
women  and  such,  who  died,  but,  praise  God,  no 
person  died.'' 

^'And  that  is  the  Turkish  villager's  idea  of  the 
fair  sex,"  the  doctor  said,  as  he  was  telling  the 
tale. 

Eleven  years  after  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Shepard  ar- 
rived in  Turkey,  they  turned  their  faces  back  to 


MIRACLES  OF  THE  SURGEON'S  KNIFE  61 

the  homeland,  for  a  year  of  rest  and  study.  They 
went  back  richer  than  they  had  left,  for  two  little 
daughters  and  a  son  went  with  them,  eager  to 
see  the  country  about  which  their  parents  had 
told  them  such  wonderful  tales.  Richer,  too,  they 
were  in  the  love  of  the  people  whom  they  had 
saved  from  disease,  famine,  and  pestilence.  As 
they  were  about  to  leave,  a  beautiful  silver  filigree- 
work  coifee-set  was  presented  to  them,  by  the 
people  of  the  city.  When,  a  year  later,  the  be- 
loved physician  and  his  family  returned  to  Aintab, 
while  the  party  was  still  several  hours  out  from 
the  city,  people  began  to  greet  and  welcome  them 
back.  A  committee  of  men  representing  the  gov- 
ernment rode  far,  on  their  prancing  horses,  to 
welcome  them,  and  with  them  rode  a  large  num- 
ber of  prominent  citizens.  As  they  drew  nearer 
to  the  city,  throngs  of  humbler  folk,  on  donkeys 
or  on  foot,  kept  adding  themselves  to  the  com- 
pany, until  a  huge  cavalcade  of  one  thousand 
persons  escorted  the  doctor  and  his  family  back 
to  the  ^ '  Spring  of  Healing. ' ' 


IV 

THE  HOSPITAL 

IT  is  time  in  the  hospital  for  the  doctor's  morn- 
ing rounds.  Down  the  long  row  of  beds,  on 
either  side  of  the  men's  ward,  eager  faces  look 
expectantly  toward  the  door.  Close  beside  the 
door  is  Mousa,  the  pale  Jewish  boy,  and  next  to 
him  the  twelve-year-old  Circassian,  with  face  so 
swollen  he  can  hardly  see  out  of  his  little  slits 
of  eyes,  but  issuing  commands  right  and  left,  and 
storming  at  the  nurse  who  tries  to  give  him  med- 
icine. Then  comes  the  tall,  gaunt  Arab,  whose 
jaw  has  been  shattered  by  gunshot,  and  who  can- 
not be  satisfied  with  soft  foods,  but  is  rocking 
back  and  forth  crying,  *^Karnum  doymade,  Kar- 
num  doymadeJ'  [I'm  still  empty,  I'm  still 
empty.] 

Kunning  merrily  about  the  ward  is  little  Ahmed 
who,  some  weeks  before,  had  fallen  and  broken 
his  arm.  The  native  bone-setter  bound  the  arm 
so  tightly  that  it  died  and  dropped  off.    Finally, 

63 


64  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

his  mother  came  with  the  poor  little  fellow  to  the 
hospital,  bringing  the  arm  along,  that  Shippet,  the 
wonder-worker,  might  put  it  on  again.  Now  he  is 
chattering  happily  to  the  patients,  as  he  fills  their 
drinking-cups  from  the  pitcher  held  in  his  left 
hand. 

Over  in  one  corner  are  six  little  lame  boys, 
some  on  crutches,  some  in  bed,  one  sitting  in  the 
wheel  chair,  all  talking  excitedly  over  the  lesson 
they  are  to  learn  that  day  in  their  little  reading 
class. 

In  the  other  corner  lies  the  dignified,  white- 
bearded,  Gregorian  priest,  and  hard  by  a  Turkish 
Hodja,  or  Moslem  religious  leader,  who,  from 
his  village  minaret,  was  wont  to  give  the  five- 
times-daily  call  to  prayer. 

Another  Moslem  religious  leader,  a  very  holy 
man  who  yesterday  had  a  cataract  operation  and 
had  been  told  he  must  be  quiet  for  three  days, 
has  risen  on  his  knees  in  bed  and  is  facing  the 
east ;  he  is  trying  to  go  through  the  genuflections 
of  his  prayers  across  the  narrow  bed.  ' '  But  Baha, 
Baba/^  [Father,  Father]  cries  the  horrified  nurse, 
catching  sight  of  him.  *^Lie  down,  you  will  hurt 
your  eye.  What  will  the  doctor  say,  when  he 
comes  in!"    A  young  Armenian  teacher  from  a 


THE  HOSPITAL  65 

Catholic  school  in  a  village  near-by  lays  aside  his 
prayer-book  as  the  doctor's  voice  is  heard  in  the 
corridor  outside. 

Near  the  door  lies  a  tall,  powerful  Kurd  who 
never  before  has  seen  aught  beyond  his  tiny  vil- 
lage. The  American  nurse  has  just  put  the  ther- 
mometer into  his  mouth.  He  thinks  it  is  a  new 
kind  of  pill  and,  to  her  dismay,  starts  to  swallow 
it.  At  that  moment  the  doctor  appears  in  the 
doorway.  ^*0h,  doctor,''  she  cries,  pointing  to 
the  patient,  ^'  he's  swallowing  the  thermometer!" 
With  one  swift  leap,  the  doctor  is  at  the  bedside. 
He  seizes  the  man  by  the  back  of  the  neck  and 
tips  him,  head  first,  out  of  bed,  shouting  to  him  to 
**spit  it  out."  Out  flies  the  precious  thermometer 
onto  the  floor — unbroken! 

After  this  little  diversion,  the  doctor  goes  on 
his  way  down  the  rows  of  cots, — a  joke  here,  a 
sympathetic  word  there,  a  nod, — and  the  Big  Lit- 
tle Doctor  has  passed  on,  leaving  a  sense  of  warm 
interest  and  friendliness,  of  courage  and  good 
cheer,  among  patients  and  nurses  alike.  Into  the 
small  private  room  he  steps,  where  the  walls  are 
decorated  with  guns,  cartridge-belts,  powder- 
horns,  pistols,  swords,  and  daggers.  These  be- 
long to  the  wounded  Kurdish  robber-chief  who  is 


66  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

required  for  justice  as  soon  as  his  wound  shall 
have  healed.  Ten  fierce-looking  attendants  from 
his  own  band  he  keeps  with  him  to  do  his  bidding, 
sending  them  dashing  off,  in  hot  haste,  here  and 
there,  and  woe  to  the  one  who  may  be  caught  nap- 
ping ! 

**How  now,"  says  the  doctor  sternly;  ^*you 
have  been  tampering  with  this  bandage  again; 
your  wound  will  never  heal  if  you  keep  reinfect- 
ing it." 

^^What  can  I  do,"  replies  the  man,  with  a 
shrug,  ^^you  know  when  I  am  well,  it  is  prison 
for  me." 

In  the  women's  ward,  the  same  eager  expecta- 
tion of  the  doctor's  visit  is  felt.  Morning  prayers, 
conducted  by  the  American  nurse,  are  over;  the 
beds  have  been  smoothed  out,  the  patients  made 
comfortable.  Near  the  door  lies  a  little  Jewish 
girl  with  spinal  caries;  she  has  been  so  shy  and 
quiet  that  no  one  has  been  able  to  get  a  word 
from  her.  Leaning  over  her  bed,  with  the  smile 
and  the  twinkle  of  the  eyes  that  are  so  irresistible, 
the  doctor  makes  some  funny  remark,  and  sud- 
denly such  a  peal  of  merry,  rollicking  laughter 
rings  out  from  the  silent  little  girl  that  everyone 
in  the  ward  chimes  in. 


THE  HOSPITAL  67 

**What  is  this,  my  sister  T'  the  doctor  asks  one 
of  the  poor  women  who  has  come  in  a  few  days 
before  with  some  ngiy  gnnshot  wounds  inflicted 
by  her  husband,  half  dead  from  the  long  journey, 
bound  to  a  rough  board  as  a  stretcher. 

^ '  Oh,  that  is  my  Bible, ' '  she  replies  weakly.  * '  I 
cannot  read  it,  but  when  I  have  it  there,  under 
my  pillow,  I  am  not  so  much  afraid.''  There  is 
a  suspicious  brightness  about  the  doctor's  eyes  as 
he  turns  away. 

And  these  patients,  gathered  together  from 
among  so  many  different  races  and  creeds,  some- 
how get  the  feeling  that  they  are  brothers  and  sis- 
ters, after  all,  for  has  not  the  great  doctor  treated 
them  all  as  such? 

As  Dr.  Shepard  passes  out  of  the  building, 
throngs  of  people  from  the  city  await  him. 
*^Aman  Doctor  Effendi/'  one  and  another  begs; 
a  woman  throws  herself  at  his  feet,  pleading  for 
a  visit  to  her  sick  child;  a  man  lays  hold  on  the 
bridle  of  his  horse,  as  he  mounts  to  answer  an 
urgent  call.  Patiently  the  doctor  replies  to  each 
one  '*Yes,  sister,  in  an  hour, — yes,  father,  in  the 
evening, — ^yes,  brother,  I  will  come  to  your  house 
first."  '^Shippet  is  going  by,  Shippet  is  going 
by,"  shout  the  street  urchins,  as  he  guides  his 


68  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

horse  over  the  slippery  pavement  of  the  narrow 
streets. 

Arrived  at  the  home  of  the  patient,  a  miserable 
room  with  no  sunshine  and  no  heat,  the  doctor 
slips  off  his  shoes  at  the  threshold,  according  to 
Oriental  custom,  and  sits  right  down  on  the  floor, 
or  on  the  patient  ^s  low  mattress,  never  for  a  mo- 
ment seeming  to  fear  contamination. 

^' Where  is  the  pain,  my  child  f  he  asks,  with 
a  gentle  hand  laid  on  the  pulse;  and  even  before 
the  prescription  is  written,  his  very  presence 
seems  to  bring  healing. 

The  afternoon  finds  Dr.  Shepard  at  the  operat- 
ing table,  an  ordinary  wooden  table  covered  with 
zinc,  on  which  he  has  performed  successfully  hun- 
dreds of  difficult  operations.  The  doctor,  for 
many  years,  has  heroically  faced  handicaps  which 
baffled  others  before  him.  Since  the  day  when,  a 
year  after  his  arrival,  the  little  hospital  of  ten 
beds  was  formally  opened,  he  and  his  associates 
have,  by  care  and  ingenuity,  made  up  for  the  lack 
of  well-nigh  indispensable  equipment. 

The  story  of  the  hospital  and  its  growth  through 
those  years,  in  the  face  of  almost  insurmountable 
difficulties,  is  a  thrilling  one. 

After  the  first  missionary  who  tried  to  make  an 


,0     "l-l-''''' 


I.     DR.   CAROLINE  F.   HAMILTON   WITH  AN  ARMFUL   OF  TINY  PATIENTS 


II.     DR.    SHEPARD    AND    HIS    ASSISTANTS    AT    THE    HOME-MADE 

OPERATING-TABLE 


THE  HOSPITAL  69 

entrance  into  the  city  had  been  stoned  out  of  the 
streets,  Dr.  Azariah  Smith  made  a  second  attempt. 
He  was  received  nowhere  except  at  a  Turkish  inn, 
and  from  there  he  was  about  to  be  driven  away, 
when  the  inn-keeper's  wife  fell  sick,  and  because 
of  his  ministrations  to  her,  the  closed  door  was 
opened. 

On  Dr.  Smith's  death,  a  memorial  fund  was 
raised  with  which  was  begun  the  hospital  that 
bears  his  name.  When  the  medical  department  of 
the  college  of  which  the  hospital  was  a  part  had 
to  be  given  up.  Dr.  Shepard  turned  all  his  at- 
tention to  the  work  of  building  up  the  hospital  and 
its  practise.  But  what  a  struggle  it  was !  From 
the  first,  his  own  earnings  formed  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  support  of  the  hospital,  and  many 
a  time  did  he  make  a  perilous  journey  to  some 
distant  town  to  earn  a  big  fee  which  he  could  apply 
to  his  loved  work.  Many  a  vacation  was  given 
up  in  order  to  earn  enough  to  keep  the  hospital 
free  from  debt.  His  reputation  had  become  such 
that,  at  any  time,  he  could  have  gained  in  private 
practise  many  times  the  amount  of  his  salary. 
But  every  ounce  of  his  strength  and  skill  were 
devoted  to  the  service  of  his  Master,  and  with 
brave  heart  he  went  ahead. 


70  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

If  only  there  might  be  enough  doctors  and 
nurses  to  keep  the  hospital  open  through  the 
summer  as  well  as  the  winter !  One  summer  they 
tried  it,  and  6144  patients  were  treated,  many  of 
whom  might  otherwise  have  perished,  but  all  the 
staff  were  so  worn  out  that  they  never  dared  to 
make  another  attempt.  For  twenty  years,  Dr. 
Shepard,  doing  the  work  of  three  ordinary  men, 
called  again  and  again  for  some  young  man  to 
come  over  and  help  him,  but  no  one  saw  the 
vision. 

^*Is  it  possible,  six  hundred  operations  and  only 
fifteen  deaths?'^  one  would  ask  who  entered  the 
operating-room  and  saw  the  meager  equipment. 

For  many  years  there  was  no  sterilizer.  All  the 
instruments  had  to  be  boiled  in  an  ordinary  kettle. 
Then  a  tiny  sterilizer  was  secured,  finally,  a 
larger  one,  a  crude  affair,  manufactured  in  a  dis- 
tant city  and  brought,  with  great  difficulty,  to 
Aintab.  When  the  operations  lasted  until  dark, 
which  often  happened  with  from  six  to  ten  serious 
cases  in  an  afternoon,  kerosene  lamps,  held  by 
the  nurses,  were  the  only  means  of  furnishing 
light. 

For  twenty-five  years,  practically  no  new  in- 
struments could  be  secured.     With  the  almost 


THE  HOSPITAL  71 

incredible  number  of  eye-cases,  there  was  no  dark 
room  for  eye  examinations.  With  the  thousands 
of  diagnoses  made  in  the  clinics  every  year,  there 
was  no  X-ray  apparatus  or  cystoscope;  and  the 
bacteriological  laboratory  was  a  tiny  room  hardly 
larger  than  a  closet.  There  was  no  heating-plant, 
no  dry-room  for  clothes  in  winter,  no  separate 
building  for  contagious  cases,  no  ward  for  the 
many  suffering  from  tuberculosis.  Apparatus  for 
extension  of  broken  limbs,  incubators  for  babies, 
— all  such  contrivances  had  to  be  devised  by  the 
doctor  himself.  With  the  growth  of  the  work, 
the  growth  of  the  hospital  was  imperative.  Be- 
fore 1890  a  new  wing  had  been  built,  making  pos- 
sible an  addition  of  twenty  beds  in  the  wards.  The 
early  work  of  Mrs.  Shepard,  in  seeing  women  pa- 
tients in  clinics  and  in  their  homes,  had  borne 
fruit;  and  it  was  now  possible  to  take  women  as 
well  as  men  into  the  hospital.  The  work  which  she 
had  given  up  to  devote  herself  to  the  lace  in- 
dustry, and  to  other  missionary  acti^dties,  was 
taken  up,  in  1893,  by  Dr.  Caroline  Hamilton  who, 
with  the  same  spirit  of  devotion  and  heroism  as 
Dr.  Shepard,  shared  with  him  the  difficulties  and 
the  successes  in  the  hospital. 
As  the  name  and  fame  of  Shippet  spread  far- 


72  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

ther  and  farther,  patients  came  from  an  ever 
widening  circle.  As  the  number  of  native  physi- 
cians increased,  and  hospitals  were  established  at 
one  center  and  another,  the  operative  cases  became 
more  and  more  difficult.  March  and  April  were 
the  months  when  medicine  was  supposed  to  be 
most  effective  and  operations  most  successful. 
So,  in  the  spring,  as  the  roads  became  warmer 
and  drier,  a  steady  stream  of  patients  poured  in 
from  distant  places.  Many  of  these  had  to  wait 
for  weeks  before  they  could  be  taken  in  and 
treated. 

Many  might  have  received  treatment  outside,  if 
they  but  had  a  place  to  stay.  Through  the  gen- 
erosity of  some  friends,  in  1907,  just  back  of  the 
hospital  was  erected  a  little  hostel  of  four  rooms, 
for  such  cases. 

This  new  building  gave  space  for  the  opening 
of  a  soup  kitchen  for  those  who  needed  proper 
food  more  than  medicine  and  were  too  poor  to 
buy  it.  In  1910-11,  terrible  winter  storms,  such  as 
had  not  been  known  for  sixty  years,  followed  one 
upon  another.  Eoads  were  blocked.  Camel  cara- 
vans came  in  without  their  drivers,  who  were  later 
found  frozen  to  death.  Fuel  could  not  be  found, 
and  people  were  burning  even  the  doors  and  furni- 


THE  HOSPITAL  73 

ture  from  their  houses.  One  family,  utterly  with- 
out fuel,  took  the  donkey  into  the  house  that  they 
might  be  warmed  by  its  heat.  What  a  boon  it 
was  then,  and  in  later  years  of  stress,  for  the  sick 
to  receive  soup  and  milk  and  bread  and  even  char- 
coal from  the  soup  kitchen. 

*^ Blessings  are  showered  upon  me  every  day,'' 
wrote  the  doctor,  '^  by  Turk  and  Christian  alike, 
for  the  help  thus  afforded.  I  found  one  day,  in  a 
dark  room,  a  bed-ridden  Turkish  woman  with 
three  children,  her  husband  gone  to  the  war  and 
nothing  to  eat  except  what  was  sent  in  by  her 
neighbors.  She  was  much  more  grateful  for  the 
soup  and  bread  than  for  the  medicine  which  cost 
four  times  as  much.''  During  one  season,  no  less 
than  12,750  meals  were  served  from  the  kitchen 
to  280  persons. 

Can  a  hospital  be  carried  on  without  nurses? 
There  was  always  one  devoted  American  nurse 
working  with  the  doctors,  and  sometimes  there 
were  two.  But  with  only  one  nurse  for  so  many 
patients,  and  especially  for  so  many  operations, 
when  everything  had  to  be  sterilized  in  an  ordi- 
nary kettle,  the  problem  became  serious.  Yet  in 
the  early  days  it  w^as  impossible  to  find  any  but 
native  women,  ail  untrained,  who  were  willing  to 


74  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

care  for  the  patients,  and  two  of  these  had  tuber- 
culosis. As  in  most  Oriental  countries,  caring  for 
the  sick  was  considered  a  demeaning  occupation. 
[Women  were  afraid  of  contagion,  and  young  girls 
were  kept  closely  at  home,  in  the  early  days  not 
even  being  allowed  to  go  to  school.  What  pa- 
tience, what  sympathy,  what  alertness,  were  nec- 
essary on  the  part  of  the  American  doctors  and 
nurses  to  watch  and  train  the  ignorant  women  and 
girls  who  were  willing  to  come  in  to  help.  The 
need  for  trained  nurses  grew  more  and  more  im- 
perative. By  the  year  1912,  several  Armenian 
girls,  some  of  whom  had  been  educated  in  the 
mission  schools,  were  willing  to  adopt  nursing  as 
a  profession,  and  a  nurses'  training-school  was 
opened.  It  was  a  proud  day  when  three  of  these 
student-nurses  actually  received  their  diplomas, 
and  a  fourth  was  given  a  special  certificate  for 
proficiency  and  efficiency,  after  ten  years  of  ser- 
vice. These  nurses  were  in  great  demand  for  ser- 
vice in  the  military  hospitals  during  the  war.  One 
of  them  was  put  in  charge  of  the  Eed  Crescent 
hospital  in  Aintab.  The  conditions  she  found  in 
the  hospital  were  unspeakable.  Many  of  the  beds 
had  no  sheets,  all  kinds  of  contagious  diseases 
were  crowded  together  in  the  same  room,  there 


THE  HOSPITAL  75 

were  no  sanitary  arrangements,  and  no  bathing 
facilities  except  the  cold-water  pump  in  the  yard, 
while  the  filth  and  stench  in  some  of  the  rooms 
were  so  unbearable  that  the  Turkish  doctors  would 
not  enter  to  see  the  patients.  With  marvelous 
tact,  dignity,  and  patience,  this  Christian  nurse, 
who  was  "nothing  but  a  girl,''  succeeded  in  get- 
ting what  she  demanded  from  the  Turkish  officials 
and  wrought  such  a  transformation  in  that  pest- 
house  that  six  other  hospitals  were  placed  under 
her  supervision.  The  nurses'  training-school  had 
proved  its  worth. 

There  was  no  corner  drug-store  where  the  thou- 
sands of  prescriptions,  given  out  in  clinics  and 
homes,  could  be  filled.  All  drugs  had  to  be  or- 
dered by  the  doctor  himself,  from  England  and 
America.  In  the  original  drug-room  that  the  doc- 
tor had  found  on  his  arrival,  the  faithful  Armenian 
druggist  put  up  thousands  of  prescriptions,  year 
after  year.  The  doctor,  always  quick  to  note  and 
appreciate  fine  qualities  in  his  associates,  paid  the 
following  tribute  to  this  faithful  member  of  his 
staff: 

''The  way  in  which  our  dispenser  handles  the 
enormous  work  of  his  department  is  noteworthy. 
To  put  up  more  than  20,000  prescriptions  a  year 


76  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

with  unfailing  accuracy,  and  to  meet  the  20,000 
people  and  their  friends  with  whom  he  has  to 
deal,  with  unvarying  urbanity  and  courtesy,  is  a 
great  achievement.'' 

It  was  a  happy  day  for  the  doctor  when  a  gift 
from  a  friend  in  England,  Miss  Anna  Marsten, 
made  it  possible  to  put  up  a  new  dispensary  build- 
ing, with  a  large  drug-room  and  waiting-room,  and 
also  with  smaller  dressing-rooms  and  consulta- 
tion-rooms. 

The  permit  for  the  building  was  applied  for, 
the  stone  was  quarried  and  brought  in,  the  lumber 
was  gathered  together;  but  with  characteristic 
Turkish  deliberation,  where  everything  has  to  be 
done  after  much  coffee  drinking,  the  permit  was 
delayed.  The  doctor  soon  hatched  a  scheme  by 
which  the  building  need  not  be  delayed.  He  put 
up  a  wall  about  the  site,  which  was  on  American 
property  and  so  not  under  Turkish  rule,  made  a 
camp  within  the  walls,  and  engaged  the  stone- 
masons and  carpenters  to  come  there  to  live;  so 
the  work  went  merrily  on.  If  a  man  stepped  out, 
he  was  promptly  arrested;  whereupon  the  doctor 
would  make  a  friendly  call  on  the  governor,  pay 
the  man's  fine  to  release  him  from  prison,  and 
promptly  get  him  back  to  work. 


THE  HOSPITAL  77 

The  final  hospital  building,  a  memorial  fund 
for  which  had  been  started  at  the  doctor's  twenty- 
fifth  anniversary  celebration,  was  planned  and 
begun  by  the  doctor,  but  only  half  finished  when 
the  war  put  an  end  to  all  building  activities. 

It  is  a  week-day  evening  at  the  hospital.  The 
American  nurse  steps  into  the  large  ward  for  men, 
and  in  one  corner  marshals  her  ^^ crutch  brigade'' 
— a  class  which  includes  all  who  can  walk  or 
hobble  about  on  crutches. 

**  Which  hymn  would  you  like  to-night, 
Ahmed  I"  she  asks;  and  Ahmed,  though  a  Mos- 
lem, is  ready  with  his  choice 

*'I'm  a  pilgrim  and  I'm  a  stranger." 

The  hymn,  always  a  favorite,  is  not  yet  finished, 
when  there  is  heard  a  little  noise  at  the  door 
opening  at  the  top  of  the  stairs  from  the  floor 
below.  It  is  Sulieman  who,  lame  in  both  feet, 
has  heard  the  singing  and  has  dragged  him- 
self upstairs ;  now  he  is  sitting  on  the  floor,  push- 
ing himself  along,  to  reach  the  Crutch  Brigade. 
A  wild  young  Arab,  taken  into  the  hospital  a  few 
days  before,  with  bullet  wounds  in  shoulder  and 
back,  comes  stalking  in  and  sits  down  on  a  bench 
in  the  center  of  the  circle.    After  the  reading,  the 


78  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

prayer,  and  the  singing  are  all  over,  with  a  broad 
smile,  he  brings  out  the  one  word, 

"Taih/'    [Good.] 

At  a  Sunday  evening  meeting  in  the  same  ward, 
after  the  chaplain  has  given  a  little  talk,  he  turns 
to  Mousa,  the  young  Jewish  lad,  and  asks,  **What 
would  you  say  to  Jesus  if  he  should  come  to 
you?^' 

''1  would  thank  him,"  comes  the  prompt  reply. 

'  ^  Thank  him ;  what  for  ? ' ' 

*^ Because  he  has  saved  me." 

As  a  result  of  what  he  has  heard  and  learned 
in  one  of  these  meetings,  Khachadour,  the  poor 
stable-boy  and  wagon  drivers '  lad,  takes  with  him 
gospel  tracts  to  scatter  on  his  way,  and  through 
this  humble  lad's  faith,  others  come  to  know  the 
Father  God. 

A  Moslem  patient,  who  has  a  particularly 
loathsome  disease  which  needs  a  dressing  every 
day,  receives  the  personal  care  of  the  doctor  him- 
self. His  friends,  sitting  in  the  corner,  look  on 
with  wonder. 

^*We  call  ourselves  Muslim"  [the  devoted  one] 
they  say,  ^^but  the  truly  devoted  are  these  Chris- 
tian doctors  and  nurses  who  are  willing  to  do 
even  this  foul  work." 


THE  HOSPITAL  79 

Patients,  returning  to  their  far-off  villages, 
spoke  of  the  hospital  as  Jesus  Hospital,  and  even 
Moslems  said  it  was  Jesus  who  cured  them  there, 
while  others  averred  that  it  was  the  doctor's  faith 
which  cured  them. 


HOESES  AND  BANDITS 

IT  was  the  doctor's  first  Christmas  in  Turkey. 
A  big  snow-storm  had  covered  hill  and  plain 
and  blotted  ont  the  narrow  trail  of  sixty  miles 
between  Aintab  and  Marash.  Plowing  through 
the  swirling  desert  of  snow  appeared  a  long- 
legged  horse  and  its  rider,  a  short,  thick-set  man 
wearing  a  big  fur  coat,  cap  drawn  down  over  his 
forehead,  and  carrying  a  gun  slung  over  his  shoul- 
der. A  few  weeks  before,  the  doctor  had  made  the 
two  days'  journey  to  Marash  in  one,  in  order  to 
do  some  dentistry  for  several  missionaries.  After 
finishing  a  good  round  job  of  fifty  fillings,  he  was 
now  hastening  home  to  spend  Christmas  with  his 
wife. 

**  Come,  Selim,''  he  said  to  his  horse,  impatient 
of  the  delay,  ^^ let's  take  this  short  cut  and  see 
if  we  can't  make  a  little  better  time." 

But  the  short  cut  soon  led  into  a  trackless  waste 
of  drifts  which  seemed  to  appear  and  disappear 

81 


82  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

in  the  swirling  snow.  The  doctor,  who  had  been 
only  two  months  in  the  country,  and  had  not  then 
learned  every  inch  of  that  way  as  he  had  in  later 
years,  lost  both  road  and  direction. 

**Well,  Selim,  old  boy,  I  guess  you  will  have 
to  guide  us  home  to-night.  Let^s  see  what  you 
can  do,''  he  said,  laying  the  reins  loose  on  the 
horse's  neck. 

As  if  waiting  for  the  chance,  Selim  turned  and 
picked  his  way  through  the  drifts  in  the  gathering 
darkness,  and  presently  brought  his  master  safely 
home.  With  beard  all  hanging  with  icicles  and 
the  snow  frozen  to  his  coat,  like  a  veritable  Santa 
Claus,  the  doctor  burst  into  the  house  with  a 
hearty  ^^ Merry  Christmas." 

Many  were  the  devoted  horse  friends  the  doc- 
tor had.  Some  of  them  he  himself  raised  and 
trained.  He  understood  them  and  they  under- 
stood him.  One  day,  w^ien  he  was  riding  in  com- 
pany with  a  number  of  ladies  on  a  narrow  rocky 
path,  one  of  the  horses  suddenly  cut  some  danger- 
ous caper.  He  shouted  to  it,  and  the  horse,  rec- 
ognizing the  voice,  because  it  had  been  trained 
by  Dr.  Shepard,  immediately  became  quiet.  The 
doctor  turned  around  with  a  smile  and  said,  ^*A 
nervous  colt  cares  a  good  deal  more  about  a  fly 


HORSES  AND  BANDITS  83 

buzzing  around  the  end  of  his  nose  than  he  does 
about  jumping  off  a  precipice.'' 

Benito,  the  horse  that  was  stolen  from  Manoog, 
was  almost  human  in  his  intelligence.  Though 
he  had  done  his  master  many  a  good  turn,  yet 
once  the  faithful  horse  played  a  joke  on  him  which 
the  doctor  loved  to  tell.  It  was  on  the  return 
trip  of  a  journey  to  Marash.  The  doctor  had 
reached  the  hill  from  which  he  could  see  Aintab, 
still  some  two  hours'  ride  across  the  muddy  plain. 
In  spite  of  his  heavy  fur  coat,  he  was  chilled  to 
the  bone  and  he  dismounted  to  walk,  dropping  the 
reins  on  Benito's  neck,  as  he  had  done  many  a 
time  before.  When  he  was  warm  again,  he  called 
to  the  horse,  w^alking  a  little  distance  ahead,  to 
stop  that  he  might  mount.  Always  before  Benito 
had  obeyed  that  call;  but  to-night  he  was  tired 
and  he  only  turned  around  and  looked  at  his  mas- 
ter, then  walked  quietly  on  again.  Again  and 
again  his  master  called,  but  each  time  Benito  only 
stopped,  looked  around,  and  walked  ahead,  oblig- 
ing the  doctor,  wearing  his  heavy  fur  coat,  to 
tramp  those  two  long  hours  through  sticky  mire, 
all  the  way  to  Aintab. 

The  strength  and  agility  Dr.  Shepard  had  de- 
veloped as  a  boy  stood  him  in  good  stead  on  his 


84  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

horseback  trips,  for  he  often  had  to  calculate  in 
a  flash  what  was  best  to  do  in  an  emergency  and 
to  act  on  the  instant.  One  day  his  horse  suddenly 
stepped  into  a  narrow  ditch  that  had  been  dug 
over  night  and  was  thrown  forward.  As  the  doc- 
tor went  flying  over  the  horse's  head,  he  looked 
back  over  his  shoulder  and  saw  the  horse  coming 
on  top  of  him.  The  instant  he  touched  ground, 
he  made  a  quick  handspring,  landing  on  his  feet 
some  distance  away.  **I  am  something  like  a 
cat, ' '  he  remarked  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eyes.  ^ '  I 
usually  land  on  my  hands  and  feet. ' ' 

On  another  occasion,  when  Dr.  Shepard  was 
escorting  some  ladies  to  Marash,  he  tried  a  short 
cut  over  the  muddy  Bazarjuk  Plain,  which  was 
crisscrossed  by  irrigating  ditches.  Coming  across 
a  narrow  ditch,  the  doctor  urged  his  horse  in, 
to  discover  its  depth  before  the  others  of  the 
party  should  try  the  ford.  The  ditch  proved 
very  deep  and  muddy.  The  doctor  realized  that, 
in  another  instant,  his  horse  would  be  mired  in 
the  quicksand.  With  one  spring  he  was  on  his 
feet  in  the  saddle,  with  another  he  stood  on  the 
opposite  bank,  giving  the  reins  such  a  terrific  pull 
that  he  dragged  the  horse  to  safety  with  him. 
The  others  profited  by  his  experience. 


,W^ipiWftljBljM;.|»ag»»yi(;-: 


I.     DR.    SHEPARD    AND    ONE    OF    HIS    FAVORITE    HORSES 


U.      WHEN    FORDING    A    RIVER,    THE    HORSE    BECOMES    A    REAL    FRIEND 


HORSES  AND  BANDITS  85 

The  people  of  the  country  said  Dr.  Shepard 
needed  a  war  horse ;  for  when  called  to  an  urgent 
case  in  a  distant  city,  he  spared  neither  himself 
nor  his  horse,  although  he  knew  how  to  conserve 
every  moment  of  time  and  every  ounce  of  strength. 
A  man  once  brought  him  a  horse  which  he  said 
he  knew  was  the  kind  the  doctor  needed.  *^No,'' 
said  the  doctor,  looking  the  animal  over,  **he  is 
not  what  I  want." 

*^He  is  yours, '^  insisted  the  man,  ^'keep  him  and 
use  him.  If  you  can  tire  him  by  your  hardest  trip, 
then  give  him  back  again.  *'  So  the  doctor  kept 
him  and  named  him  Dervish. 

Not  long  after  this,  in  the  dead  of  winter,  when 
the  roads  were  at  their  worst,  came  a  telegram 
from  the  black  city  of  Diarbekir,  begging  the 
doctor  to  come  to  a  wealthy  Turkish  patient  who 
lay  dangerously  ill.  It  might  be  a  hopeless  case. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  young  Armenian  doctor 
who  had  the  case  might  get  in  trouble  if  this 
prominent  Turk  should  die  without  a  consultation, 
and  Dr.  Shepard  was  always  ready  to  do  his  ut- 
most for  his  native  associates.  Then,  too,  there 
would  be  a  big  fee  for  the  hospital,  for  Dr. 
Shepard  charged  by  the  distance,  ''ay ok  ieri'^ 
[foot  sweat]  the  people  called  the  fee,  one  gold 


86  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

lira  for  every  hour  of  caravan  time,  and  Diarbekir 
was  ten  days'  journey  away. 

Within  an  hour,  his  saddle-bags  packed  with 
hard  tack,  doughnuts,  and  instruments,  the  doe- 
tor  was  off.  Every  four  hours  he  would  stop  to 
get  a  new  gendarme  with  a  fresh  horse ;  but  there 
was  no  stop  for  Dervish,  nor  any  fresh  mount 
for  the  doctor, — only  a  bag  of  barley  for  the  horse 
and  an  hour  of  rest  for  his  rider.  The  first  day's 
ride  took  him  to  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates.  That 
night,  as  he  left  the  picturesque  village  of  Birejik, 
with  its  old  castle  on  the  river,  at  one  o'clock  in 
the  cold  moonlight,  he  looked  back  for  his  guard 
and  saw,  to  his  dismay,  a  little  shriveled-up  old 
Negro  on  a  rackabones  of  a  horse  that  looked  as 
if  it  had  been  tied  together  and  might  fall  to 
pieces  at  any  moment.  ^'We  shan't  make  much 
time  on  this  leg  of  the  journey,"  thought  the 
doctor,  as  he  led  off  at  a  sharp  trot.  Before  long 
the  guard  was  riding  close  beside  him. 

**Shan't  we  try  a  little  gallop,  Doctor  Effendi?'^ 
asked  the  Negro  in  a  cracked  little  voice. 

The  doctor  needed  no  second  invitation;  but 
it  was  all  he  could  do  to  keep  within  sight  of  the 
tail  of  the  old  gray  rackabones  all  the  way  to  the 
next  stop.     There  was  no  stop  for  Dervish  that 


HORSES  AND  BANDITS  87. 

morning,  however,  after  the  night 's  work, — only  a 
bag  of  barley  and  an  hour's  rest,  and  on  again, 
over  icy  mountain  and  muddy  plain,  through  snowy 
valley  and  swollen  stream.  On  the  fourth  day, 
when  gendarme  after  gendarme  had  been  dropped 
behind,  the  doctor  and  Dervish  saw  the  black  tur- 
rets in  the  distance  and  knew  that  they  had  won 
through.  The  horse  had  proved  his  mettle.  He 
was  indeed,  as  his  master  had  said,  a  horse  the 
doctor  could  not  tire. 

The  government  required  that  every  foreigner 
should  travel  with  a  guard,  disclaiming  all  re- 
sponsibility for  one  who  traveled  alone.  Almost 
always  on  these  trips  the  doctor's  gun  was  slung 
over  his  shoulder,  for  when  the  gendarme  dropped 
behind  on  a  perilous  road,  he  might  have  to  face 
a  highwayman  alone. 

^'Too  bad,"  he  used  to  say,  ^Hhat  when  a  man 
goes  on  an  errand  of  mercy,  he  should  have  to  go 
armed  like  a  brigand." 

On  several  occasions,  however,  his  gun  stood 
him  in  good  stead. 

There  was  a  certain  fountain,  backed  by  a  high 
hill  near  the  city  of  Marash,  which  at  one  time 
had  a  bad  reputation,  so  many  highway  robberies 
had  occurred  there.    Once,  when  passing  this  place 


88  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

alone,  he  noticed  a  man  sitting  by  the  roadside, 
and  somehow  he  did  not  like  his  looks.  He  did 
not  fear  one  nnmonnted  man,  but  he  knew  the  way 
of  robbers.  They  would  first  experiment  with  a 
traveler,  and  try  to  size  him  up,  as  to  courage  and 
importance,  before  attacking  him.  They  would 
ride  by  a  man  and  look  him  over,  then  dash  up 
and  attack  from  the  rear.  Dr.  Shepard  knew  that 
this  man  might  have  companions  within  call,  and 
that  the  most  dangerous  thing  that  he  himself 
could  do  was  to  show  the  white  feather.  So,  as 
soon  as  he  saw  the  man,  he  quietly  swung  his 
gun  around,  pointing  across  his  knee.  The  man 
approached,  took  his  horse  by  the  bridle,  and  asked 
the  doctor  the  time  of  day.  Suddenly  cocking  his 
gun,  Dr.  Shepard  replied, 

^' About  time  for  you  to  be  getting  out  of  here !'' 
The  man  took  to  his  heels! 

Once  he  was  traveling  the  road  to  Hadjin,  in 
the  Taurus  Mountains.  His  servant,  a  devoted 
and  level-headed  Armenian,  was  with  him.  It 
was  late  afternoon.  The  road,  a  comparatively 
broad  and  well-built  one,  was  very  steep  and 
wound  among  forests.  Happening  to  look  back, 
he  saw  two  Circassians  on  good  mounts  coming 
behind  them  from  the  ravine  they  had  just  left. 


HORSES  AND  BANDITS  89 

Now,  the  Circassians  are  the  boldest  and  cruelest 
robbers  in  Turkey.  They  have  no  fear  of  the 
Turkish  government,  because  the  Turkish  govern- 
ment is  really  afraid  of  them.  Dr.  Shepard  used 
to  say  that  they  were  the  only  highwaymen  in 
the  country  who  would  unhesitatingly  kill  or  in- 
jure those  whom  they  robbed,  and  that  he  had 
seen  so  much  of  their  work  that  he  considered 
them  utterly  inhuman.  There  was  once  a  patient 
in  the  hospital  whose  tongue  had  been  pulled  out 
by  such  robbers ;  perhaps,  as  the  doctor  suggested, 
because  he  was  a  little  saucy. 

On  this  afternoon,  therefore,  it  was  not  reassur- 
ing to  see  these  horsemen  approaching,  but  he 
knew  that  the  worst  thing  he  could  do  would  be 
to  show  fear.  They  wore  the  usual  black,  Persian 
lamb  caps  and  tight-skirted  coats,  with  a  perfect 
arsenal  of  cartridges,  and  carried  daggers  at 
their  sides.  Each  had,  beside,  a  revolver  and 
a  gun.  Their  intensely  black  eyes  looked  out 
under  beetling  brows,  in  striking  contrast  to  their 
rather  pale  skins.  They  addressed  Dr.  Shepard 
roughly. 

**You  ought  not  to  be  out  on  the  road  alone.'' 
Dr.  Shepard  recognized  this  as  a  test  question, 
and  replied  shortly,  ^'I'm  not  alone.'' 


90  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

*^ There  are  only  two  of  you.    It's  not  enough." 

*^And  there  are  only  two  of  you." 

^*Ah-h-h,  but  we're  Circassians!'' 

^^ And  who  am  If 

At  this  the  men  rode  on,  and  he  saw  no  more 
of  them.  Evidently  they  had  decided  that  he  was 
a  person  whom  it  would  not  be  well  to  molest. 

Dr.  Shepard  used  to  say  that,  when  robbers 
attacked  a  caravan,  it  was  generally  quite  sufficient 
to  ride  at  them,  crack  your  whip  and  bellow. 
Once,  however,  the  doctor  actually  was  robbed. 
It  was  after  the  massacre  of  1909,  when  he  was 
in  charge  of  the  reconstruction  work  in  the  burned 
villages  of  the  Amanus  Mountains.  Back  and 
forth  he  went,  over  the  rocky,  difficult  trails, 
carrying  with  him  saddle-bags  full  of  gold,  for 
the  work  of  relief  and  rebuilding. 

**Now  is  my  chance,"  thought  the  bold  Kurdish 
outlaw  Abtino.  Many  a  caravan  had  he  robbed 
and  many  a  man  had  he  killed  for  his  money. 

On  a  certain  Saturday  afternoon  the  doctor  was 
riding  through  a  narrow  defile  in  one  of  the  lone- 
liest parts  of  the  mountain.  His  trusty  servant, 
Heokkesh,  rode  behind  him,  carrying  his  gun. 
The  doctor  was  unarmed.  Suddenly,  from  behind 
some  bushes  at  the  top  of  the  ravine,  dashed 


HORSES  AND  BANDITS  91 

down  six  burly  Kurds.  Instantly  the  servant  took 
aim  at  the  leader  of  the  robber  band. 

^' Don't  shoot,"  cried  the  doctor,  knowing  the 
game  would  be  up  with  them  should  they  begin 
the  fight.  At  the  same  moment,  his  long  arm 
shot  out  and  knocked  the  gun  out  of  his  ser- 
vant's hand.  While  Dr.  Shepard  was  thus  sav- 
ing Abtino  from  his  servant's  bullet,  one  of  the 
outlaw  band  from  behind  dealt  the  doctor  a  das- 
tardly blow  on  the  back  of  his  head  which  felled 
him  to  the  ground.  Then  the  robbers  gleefully 
tied  the  hands  of  the  doctor  and  his  servant  and 
made  them  sit  down  behind  a  clump  of  bushes, 
while  they  ransacked  the  saddle-bags.  They  found 
doughnuts,  hard  tack,  raisins,  a  change  of  clothing, 
a  stethoscope,  and  a  medicine  case — nothing  more. 

*^  Where  is  all  the  gold  they  say  you  have  been 
carrying?"  demanded  the  outlaw. 

The  doctor,  with  his  keen  sense  of  humor,  was 
beginning  to  enjoy  the  joke. 

*^If  you  had  known  Dr.  Shepard  better,"  he 
replied,  ^'you  would  have  kno^\Ti  that  you  could 
not  find  any  money  about  him." 

'^You  lie!"  cried  the  robber,  and  started  to  go 
through  the  pockets  of  the  prisoners.  They  found 
a  gold  watch,  a  pocket-knife,  and  a  few  mejidieh 


92  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

[silver  coin  worth  about  eighty  cents] — nothing 
more. 

*^Now,  by  Allah!'*  swore  Abtino,  ^'I  ought  by 
good  rights  to  kill  you  for  this.  From  the  mean- 
est traveler  I  get  more  than  this,  and  from  you 
I  expected  to  get  at  least  two  hundred  liras!''  [A 
lira,  in  Turkey,  is  a  gold  piece  worth  about  $4.40.]' 

** You'd  better  kill  him,  anyway,"  advised  All 
Geozuk,  one  of  the  robber  gang.  **They  say  no 
one  who  has  touched  Dr.  Shepard  ever  gets  off 
without  his  dues." 

'^Fool,"  replied  the  outlaw,  **  would  you  have 
me  run  my  own  head  into  a  noose  ?  We  will  keep 
them  until  sundown,  and  then  let  them  go." 

Until  sundown,  therefore,  from  behind  bushes, 
the  doctor  had  a  chance  to  watch  how  the  outlaws 
went  about  their  work,  as  every  passing  horse- 
man or  caravan  was  held  up  and  robbed.  He  thus 
completes  the  story  in  his  own  words: 

*^I  was  so  relieved,  because  I  had  no  relief 
funds  with  me,  that  the  whole  thing  rather  took, 
in  my  mind,  the  aspect  of  a  good  joke  on  the 
robbers.  A  week  before,  I  traveled  the  same  road 
with  over  seven  hundred  pounds  in  money  in  my 
saddle-bags,  but  that  time  I  was  armed  (when 
robbed  I  was  wholly  unarmed),  and  should  have 


HORSES  AND  BANDITS  93 

put  up  a  lively  figlit — very  likely  I  should  have 
lost  my  life  and  the  gold  to  boot;  in  any  case,  I 
should  have  killed  several  Kurds,  a  thing  I  had 
no  wish  to  do.  The  whole  thing  seems  to  have 
been  providential.  The  robbers  have  been  cap- 
tured near  Diarbekir,  and  Abtino  will  doubtless 
be  hung.  He  had  previously  killed  about  a  score 
of  men,  and  since  robbing  me  he  has  killed  three 
more."  Later,  the  doctor  was  called  as  a  witness 
at  the  trial  of  Abtino  by  court-martial  and  he  de- 
scribes it  thus: 

^'He  still  sticks  to  the  tale  he  told  the  Vali 
[governor],  that  Dr.  Shepard  treated  him  for  six- 
teen days  in  the  hospital  at  Aintab,  for  which 
service  he  owes  the  doctor  fifty  liras,  and  because 
he  failed  to  pay  the  same,  the  doctor  brings  this 
false  charge  against  him — a  tale  which  amused 
the  court-martial  but  did  not  redound  to  Abtino 's 
advantage.  The  fellow  was  brought  in,  chained 
to  a  young  Kurd  whom  I  had  never  seen  before. 
I  was  sorry  for  the  rascal;  he  acted  like  a  fox  I 
once  caught  in  a  steel  trap.'* 

Abtino  was  convicted  and  hung.  His  brother 
and  Ali  Geozuk  swore  vengeance  on  the  doctor 
and  threatened  to  kill  him  on  sight,  but  four  years 
later,   Ali  Geozuk  was   shot  by   a   company  of 


94  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

gendarmes  sent  after  him  by  the  government,  and 
Abtino  's  brother  fled  the  country. 

There  was  one  occasion,  however,  when  the 
fearless  doctor  was  really  afraid,  and  it  was  the 
gun  which  he  carried  for  protection  that  gave 
him  the  fright.  He  was  returning  with  his  wife 
and  children  from  the  summer  camp,  where  they 
had  spent  a  glorious  six  weeks.  The  grateful 
darkness  had  fallen,  after  the  long,  hot  ride  of 
the  day.  Mrs.  Shepard,  weary  of  riding  in  the 
saddle,  asked  if  she  might  not  change  to  the  load, 
for  a  rest.  The  doctor  dismounted,  and,  holding 
his  gun  in  one  hand,  was  helping  her  off  with 
the  other.  Meanwhile,  the  stallion  he  had  been 
riding  began  to  paw  at  Mrs.  Shepard  *s  horse 
and  struck  the  hammer  of  the  doctor's  gun.  There 
was  a  loud  report.  At  the  same  instant  Mrs. 
Shepard  slid  from  her  saddle  to  the  ground.  For 
a  moment  the  bullet's  work  was  uncertain. 

**Did  it  hit  you,  dear?"  came  the  words  in 
terror  and  anguish. 

**No,  no,"  came  the  quick,  reassuring  reply. 

Dr.  Shepard,  however,  was  exceedingly  careful 
about  his  firearms.  He  always  unloaded  his  gun 
when  through  Tvdth  it.  A  revolver  he  distrusted 
and  he   seldom  carried   one.     **It   is   a   tricky 


HORSES  A2JD  BANDITS  95 

[Weapon/'  he  used  to  say/* it  is  so  short,  you  never 
know  where  it  is  pointing." 

When  Abtino's  brother  and  Ali  Geozuk  were 
seeking  his  life,  however,  the  doctor  yielded  to 
the  pleas  of  his  friends  and  borrowed  a  revolver 
to  take  with  him  on  a  trip  through  the  mountain 
region  where  the  outlaws  were  said  to  be  lying 
in  wait.  After  a  time,  getting  tired  of  so  much 
paraphernalia,  the  doctor  put  the  little  *^  auto- 
matic'' into  the  side-pocket  of  his  coat.  In  some 
of  his  curvetings,  his  horse  banged  the  shotgun, 
slung  as  usual  over  the  doctor's  shoulder,  against 
the  revolver  in  his  pocket,  and  exploded  it,  sending 
the  bullet  through  the  doctor's  leg.  Fortunately, 
he  had  some  iodine  with  him,  and  his  companion, 
an  Armenian  doctor,  had  some  gauze;  so  they 
bandaged  the  wound  and  w^ent  on  their  way,  glad 
that  the  accident  was  no  worse. 

Thirty-one  years  after  that  first  Christmas, 
when  Dr.  Shepard  and  his  good  horse  had  made 
their  way  home  through  drifting  snow,  again  on 
a  Christmas  Day,  he  was  battling  over  the  same 
road.  This  time  he  rode  in  a  carriage  of  the 
prairie-schooner  style.  Thirty-one  years  see  eome 
changes  even  in  Turkey,  and  a  carriage  road  (so 
called  by  courtesy)  had  been  built  between  Aintab 


96  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

and  Marash.  The  doctor  still  preferred  his  horse, 
but  on  this  occasion  it  had  not  been  *^fit,''  and 
his  patient  had  furnished  the  carriage.  The  doc- 
tor now  knew  the  road  and  strapped  his  saddle 
on  the  back  of  the  carriage,  so  that  if  the  vehicle 
should  get  stuck  in  mud  or  snow,  he  might  mount 
one  of  the  horses  and  push  on.  The  return  trip 
proved  the  doctor 's  wisdom.  In  his  own  words  he 
tells  the  story  of  that  trip : 

I  left  Marash  Tuesday  morning,  at  about  nine 
o'clock,  in  a  carriage  and  with  rather  threatening 
weather;  but  we  got  along  nicely,  although  there 
was  a  little  snow  falling,  until  we  were  about  half- 
way up  the  mountain  this  side  of  the  Bazarjuk 
Plain,  when  a  regular  blizzard  struck  us,  and  from 
there  on,  for  about  an  hour,  it  was  a  question 
whether  we  could  win  through  or  not.  The  driver 
would  have  perished,  I  think,  had  I  not  had  an 
extra  greatcoat  to  give  him.  Several  times  I 
thought  we  would  surely  be  blown  oif  the  moun- 
tain, but  at  last  the  well-blown  horses  pulled  me 
into  the  inn  yard,  although  even  there  the  air  was 
so  full  of  whirling  snow  that  one  could  scarcely 
distinguish  their  heads  from  their  tails,  and  while 
I  was  helping  the  half-frozen  driver  to  take  them 
from  the  wagon,  my  hat  w^as  so  suddenly  blown 
from  my  head  that  I  never  saw  where  it  went. 
There  was  but  one  unoccupied  room  in  the  inn,  and 


HORSES  AND  BANDITS  97 

noi  long  after  I  had  gotten  settled  in  that,  with  a 
young  Turkish  soldier  on  his  way  to  join  his 
regiment  in  Marash,  four  more  soldiers  came  in, 
half  perished  from  the  storm,  and  of  course  I  had 
to  make  them  as  welcome  as  might  be  in  my  room. 
With  six  of  us  and  two  braziers  of  charcoal 
in  the  small  room,  it  was  soon  warm  enough  to 
be  bearable,  and  I  slept  as  well  as  my  rheumatic 
joints  would  permit. 

When  the  belated  morning  light  finally  ap- 
peared, it  was  still  blowing  great  guns,  and  it  was 
obviously  out  of  the  question  for  the  carriage  to 
go  on.  So  I  mounted  the  best  of  the  three  horses, 
and  pushed  out  into  the  swirling  whiteness.  Many 
stretches  of  road  were  blo^vn  clear  of  snow,  and 
on  these  I  made  good  time,  nor  did  I  find  any  very 
deep  drifts  until  I  reached  the  end  of  the  made 
road,  up  on  top  of  the  plateau.  Here  the  snow 
was  deeper,  and  the  wind,  having  a  freer  sweep, 
had  piled  it  in  deeper  drifts ;  and  in  many  places 
these  were  so  deep  that  my  little  horse  could  not 
flounder  through  wdth  me  on  his  back,  so  I  fre- 
quently had  to  dismount  and  break  a  track, 
through  which  he  could  wallow  along  behind  me. 
But  by  dint  of  taking  to  the  fields  and  hillsides, 
where  the  snow  was  shallowest,  keeping  along  the 
windward  side  of  walls  and  hedges,  and  after 
again  coming  to  the  half-built  road,  by  riding 
along  on  top  of  the  cracked  stone  piled  beside  the 
road-bed,  I  managed  to  make  some  progress.  I 
met    the    post — three    laden    horses    and    three 


98  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

mounted  men — at  about  noon,  and  soon  afterward 
a  small  caravan,  and  so  had  a  broken  track  the 
rest  of  the  way,  and  finally,  as  I  got  within  three 
hours  of  Aintab,  a  well-beaten  one ;  whereupon  my 
little  horse  plucked  up  courage  and  paddled  in  the 
rest  of  the  way,  as  if  nothing  had  happened  to 
him.  It  seemed  very  good  to  be  home  again,  and 
to  find  every  one  so  glad  to  see  me.  Your  mother 
soon  had  a  warm  meal  for  me,  which,  as  I  had 
eaten  nothing  since  the  evening  before,  tasted  very 
good  indeed. 

Although  the  doctor  was  ready  at  any  moment 
to  brave  the  perils  of  the  road  to  save  a  life, 
whether  of  Christian,  Kurd,  or  Turk,  yet  there 
was  a  special  pull  on  his  heartstrings  when  the  call 
came  from  some  missionary  associate  in  a  distant 
place.  At  four  in  the  afternoon  of  an  early 
spring  day,  while  at  the  operating-table,  a  tel- 
egram was  handed  to  the  doctor.  ^^  Carrie  ill — 
come  at  once."  Two  days'  journey  far  across  the 
mountain  ranges  and  across  the  plain  full  of 
swollen  streams  and  sloughs,  the  anxious  parents 
were  waiting.  *^"When  would  the  telegram  reach 
the  doctor  1 ' '  Like  everything  else  in  Turkey,  tel- 
egrams were  slow,  and  often  Dr.  Shepard  would 
reach  a  place  in  time  to  receive  his  own  telegram 
announcing  his  coming. 


HORSES  AND  BANDITS  99 

^^How  long  would  it  take  him  to  reach,  them 
over  those  difficult  roads ?^'  At  five  o'clock  the 
doctor  was  on  his  way.  At  dark  the  mountain 
range  was  crossed,  and  he  pulled  up  at  the  door 
of  the  house  of  his  Kurdish  friend,  Mahmoud 
Agha.  While  the  horse  had  his  bag  of  barley, 
the  members  of  his  friend's  household  vied  with 
one  another  to  do  honor  to  the  loved  guest.  They 
brought  him  a  ewer  and  basin  to  bathe  his  feet,  and 
a  dish  of  hot  soup,  with  bread  and  curds  and 
cheese  for  his  evening  meal. 

'^Can  I  get  across  the  ford  at  the  Ak  Suf'^ 
[White  Water]  asked  the  doctor  anxiously. 

**I  fear  not,  Effendi;  there  has  been  much  snow 
and  rain,  and  the  water  runs  by  like  a  sea." 

*^But  the  bridge  is  two  hours'  down-stream,  and 
that  will  lose  me  four  hours'  time.  It  is  a  child 
that  needs  me  and  I  cannot  delay." 

^^Inshallah  [God  willing],  the  Doctor  E/fendi 
can  pass  the  ford.  You  have  no  guard;  I  will 
come  with  you  to  the  water. ' ' 

Mounting  his  old  gray  mare,  the  Kurd  rode  be- 
side the  doctor,  guiding  him,  in  the  darkness, 
around  the  sloughs  to  the  river,  which  rolled  in 
a  turbulent  torrent  down  the  plain. 

*^ Entrusted  to  Allah,"  he  shouted  as  the  doctor 


100  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

rode  into  the  swollen  and  turbulent  stream  and 
then  disappeared  in  the  darkness. 

Carefully  the  horse  picked  his  way  over  the 
mud  bottom,  while  the  cold,  swirling  water  rose 
first  to  his  belly,  then  to  his  shoulders. 

'^Steady,  there,  boy,  I'm  with  you.'* 

As  the  horse  lost  bottom  and  began  to  swim, 
the  doctor  loosened  his  coat  and,  sliding  off  into 
the  water,  held  on  to  the  pommel  of  his  saddle 
with  one  hand,  while  he  pulled  a  strong  stroke 
with  the  other.  After  a  sharp  fight  with  the  cur- 
rent, drenched  and  shivering,  horse  and  rider 
scrambled  up  onto  the  farther  bank  and  groped 
their  way  back  to  the  road  up-stream;  for  the 
current  had  carried  them  far  down  as  they  swam. 
But  the  four  hours  had  been  saved,  and  morning 
found  the  doctor  at  the  home  of  his  little  patient. 

So  well  had  the  doctor  come  to  know  the  roads 
of  the  country,  and  how  to  manage  everything  on 
a  journey  by  horse  or  carriage,  that  he  was  asked, 
time  and  time  again,  to  escort  a  party  of  recently- 
arrived  missionaries  over  the  road  from  Alexan- 
dretta  to  Aintab  or  to  other  cities  farther  in  the 
interior.  Many  were  the  tales  he  would  tell  them 
to  while  away  the  time,  as  they  rode  over  the 
long  miles ;  how,  at  a  certain  point  one  day,  over- 


HORSES  AND  BANDITS  101 

come  with  sleep,  he  had  lain  down  for  a  nap,  and 
his  faithful  horse,  Abdullah,  had  licked  his  face 
to  wake  him  when  a  caravan  of  camels  passed  by; 
how,  when  one  of  the  women  missionaries  was 
riding  his  splendid  horse  through  the  market-place 
in  Oorfa,  he  had  heard  one  Turk  say  to  another, 
'^ Isn't  it  a  shame  to  have  a  fine  horse  like  that 
ridden  by  a  woman !'*  And  how,  as  he  was  escort- 
ing a  party  of  ladies  riding  in  two  carriages 
through  the  streets  of  Kills,  a  fat  old  Turk,  stand- 
ing beside  the  village  fountain,  turned  to  another 
man  and  remarked,  ''The  Doctor  Effendi,  it 
seems,  has  increased  his  harem!''  He  told  how, 
stopping  at  a  certain  khan  one  day,  he  boasted  of 
his  camp  omelet  to  the  lady  he  was  escorting; 
how  he  placed  the  eggs  in  readiness  on  a  stool  and 
then,  forgetting  them,  almost  sat  down  on  them, 
when  a  scream  from  the  lady  saved  the  eggs — 
and  his  trousers.  There  was  a  twinkle  of  the 
eye  which  came  before  each  story  and  a  chuckle 
which  followed.  Another  device  the  doctor  used 
to  shorten  a  tedious  journey  was  his  pocket  chess- 
board. The  tiny,  folding  box  which  held  the  chess- 
men opened  out  into  a  miniature  board.  The 
men  stood  firmly  on  pegs  fitted  into  little  round 
holes  in  the  squares,  so  that  the  board  could  be 


102  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

passed  back  and  forth,  from  one  horseback  rider 
to  another ;  and  many  a  hard-fought  game  did  the 
doctor  win  from  some  companion  as  they  covered 
the  dusty  miles. 

In  1911,  when  the  doctor  was  returning  from  a 
year's  visit  to  his  native  land,  some  new  mission- 
aries for  Harpoot,  a  city  farther  inland  than 
Aintab,  traveled  with  him.  One  of  them  thus  tells 
of  their  journey  together: 

It  was  the  overland  journey  from  Alexandretta 
to  Aintab  that  revealed  to  us  the  love  which  Dr. 
Shepard  had  won  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  of 
Turkey.  As  I  saw  him  minister  to  the  multitudes, 
I  could  only  think  of  our  Savior  and  what  they 
said  of  him.  **And  he  had  compassion  on  them, 
because  they  were  as  sheep  not  having  a  shep- 
herd." At  Hamam,  where  we  spent  the  day  in 
misery  fighting  flies  and  fleas,  the  doctor  minis- 
tered to  a  great  crowd  of  people.  It  was  noised 
abroad  that  he  was  there  (though  he  hoped  to  get 
through  without  having  it  known)  and  the  people 
began  to  come  to  him  at  seven  o  'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  kept  coming  until  evening. 

The  rest  of  us  did  not  care  to  spend  another 
night  in  the  khan,  and  so  Dr.  Shepard  persuaded 
the  wagon-drivers  to  travel  at  night,  as  it  was 
moonlight.  This  they  consented  to  do.  At  nine 
o'clock  we  were  packed  up  and  ready  to  go.    We 


HORSES  AND  BANDITS  103 

had  got  fairly  well  started  on  our  night's  ride, 
when  some  one  came  galloping  after  us  on  horse- 
back. Another  patient  had  been  brought  in  from 
a  village  to  see  the  doctor.  He  went  back  to  give 
the  desired  help  and  we  waited. 

The  next  day  we  reached  Kills.  There  he  was 
received  with  open  arms  by  the  Protestant  pastor 
and  the  Gregorian  priest  who  both  kissed  him  on 
both  cheeks  and  hugged  him  violently.  The  news 
soon  spread  that  he  was  there,  and  again  the 
sick  were  brought  to  him.  A  room  in  a  house  was 
given  him,  and  all  day  he  ministered  to  the  sick, 
even  until  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  we 
started  on  our  journey  again.  The  words  of  an 
Aintab  Seminary  schoolgirl,  who  lived  in  that  vil- 
lage and  who  called  on  us,  expressed  the  feeling 
we  all  had  concerning  him.  As  we  sat  watching 
from  the  window  old  and  young,  sick  and  in- 
firm, deaf  and  blind,  some  brought  in  ox-carts, 
some  on  the  backs  of  mothers  or  husbands,  some 
walking,  but  all  in  distress,  waiting  to  see  the 
doctor,  this  girl  said,  ^'He  is  just  like  Jesus,  isn't 
he?  That  is  the  way  He  did."  And  we  all  an- 
swered, ^'Yes." 


VI 
FACING  THE  MOB 

WHILE  Dr.  Shepard,  by  his  life  of  devoted 
service  to  men  of  all  races  and  religions 
alike,  was  preaching  the  gospel  of  the  fatherhood 
of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man,  Abdul  Hamid, 
upon  his  throne,  was  plotting  how  he  might  fan 
into  flame  dissensions  and  hatreds  among  his  sub- 
jects. Wily  old  fox  that  he  was,  he  made  many 
promises  to  England,  signed  and  sealed,  to  re- 
form his  government  and  take  better  care  of  his 
Christian  subjects;  but  within  his  empire  his  spies 
were  busily  at  work.  Every  book  or  paper  that 
came  into  the  country  was  strictly  censored.  Mag- 
azines were  delivered  from  the  post-office  with 
holes  cut  in  their  pages,  or  with  whole  leaves  gone, 
where  some  objectionable  phrase  or  article  had 
been  found. 

A  life  of  Dwight  L.  Moody,  sent  from  Amer- 
ica to  Mrs.  Shepard,  was  held  by  the  censor. 
When  she  requested  that,  if  it  could  not  come  into 

105 


106  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

Turkey,  it  might  be  sent  back,  she  received  the 
reply  that  the  book  was  not  fit  to  be  read  in  any 
country  and  should  be  destroyed.  An  Armenian 
preacher  was  imprisoned  on  the  charge  of  using 
the  phrase  ^^ Kingdom  of  God''  in  a  sermon  copied 
thirty  years  before,  and  taken  from  the  sermons 
of  an  American  missionary.  This  phrase  surely 
showed  a  revolutionary  spirit!  Other  preachers 
were  thrown  into  a  loathsome  Turkish  prison,  to 
be  kept  there  for  months  without  charge  or  trial, 
while  their  papers  were  ransacked.  If  the  word 
**star"  were  found  in  one  of  these  sermons,  that 
was  enough  to  convict  its  writer;  for  was  not 
Yildiz,  [Star]  the  name  of  the  Sultan's  palace? 
He  must  surely  be  plotting  against  his  Majesty. 

No  Christian  subject  was  allowed  to  flee  the 
country,  and  no  Christian,  native  or  foreign,  could 
travel  in  the  empire  without  a  permit. 

Telephones  were  a  **pet  aversion''  of  the  Sul- 
tan. The  doctor  put  one  up  between  his  house 
and  the  hospital,  for  emergency  calls.  It  was  no 
sooner  ready  to  use  than  the  order  came  to  take 
it  down  again.  All  appeals  to  higher  authority 
were  in  vain,  and  the  Moslem  carpenter  who  had 
put  up  the  poles  and  strung  the  wires  had  to  undo 
ihis  work,  muttering  curses  the  while  on  such  a 


FACING  THE  MOB  107 

government.  Exorbitant  taxes  were  exacted  from 
the  poor,  and  often  a  man^s  pots  and  kettles  were 
seized  and  sold  for  taxes  which  he  could  not  pay 
or  perhaps  had  already  paid. 

Meanwhile,  the  Kurds  and  Arabs  were  encour- 
aged to  prey  on  and  plunder  their  Armenian 
neighbors.  The  poor  Christian  Armenians  looked 
to  the  Christian  nations  for  help  against  their 
oppressors,  but  when  they  found  that  they  looked 
in  vain,  some  tried  to  help  themselves.  Just  north 
of  Marash,  the  city  to  which  the  doctor  had  taken 
so  many  emergency  trips,  in  a  deep  mountain  val- 
ley, lies  the  little  village  of  Zeitoun.  Rough  and 
bold  as  the  mountains  which  surround  them,  these 
Armenian  villagers  lived  as  an  independent  little 
state.  Among  them  was  a  band  of  rebel  outlaws. 
When  the  Sultan's  oppression  and  the  threats  of 
their  Moslem  neighbors  became  unbearable,  in 
October,  1895,  this  fearless  band  rose  in  rebellion, 
captured  the  garrison  of  five  hundred  Turkish  sol- 
diers that  had  been  stationed  there  to  keep  them 
quiet,  and  attacked  the  surrounding  Moslem  vil- 
lages. 

This  was  just  the  kind  of  an  excuse  for  which 
his  Majesty  had  been  waiting.  In  glaring  head- 
lines, the  Turkish  newspapers  printed  exagger- 


108  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

ated  tales  of  the  terrible  things  these  Christian 
outlaws  were  doing  to  their  poor  Moslem  neigh- 
bors. And  everywhere,  all  over  the  empire,  the 
Moslems  were  roused  against  the  Giaours,  or  un- 
believers. Did  not  their  sacred  book  tell  them  it 
was  a  merit  to  kill  a  Christian  dog?  And  was 
not  this  the  best  chance  in  the  world  to  take 
houses  and  lands  and  goods  and  money  from  these 
people  who  had  grown  so  prosperous  and  were 
always  getting  ahead  of  them!  The  Turks  and 
Kurds  were  only  too  eager  to  wreak  vengeance 
all  over  the  country  for  this  lawless  act  of  the 
Armenians  in  the  little  village  of  Zeitoun.  And 
Abdul  Hamid,  in  his  palace,  decided  that  no  one 
would  blame  him  for  what  a  mob  might  do;  so 
his  secret  emissaries  went  through  the  land,  rous- 
ing the  mob  to  do  its  work  when  the  signal  should 
be  given. 

It  was  Saturday  morning,  November  16,  1895. 
Dr.  Shepard  was  seated  at  breakfast  with  his  fam- 
ily in  the  little  home  on  the  college  campus,  half 
a  mile  from  the  city.  Suddenly  the  maid  burst 
into  the  room,  **0h,  Doctor  Effendi/'  she  cried, 
her  voice  hoarse  with  terror,  ^4t  is  gone,  the  city 
is  gone!''  Springing  from  their  seats,  all  rushed 
to  the  front  door.    The  air  was  filled  with  a  horrid 


FACING  THE  MOB  109 

clamor, — the  shrieks  of  woraen,  the  crack  of  guns, 
the  shouts  of  men,  the  crash  of  breaking  doors 
and  windows,  the  shrill  battle-cry  of  the  Moslem 
women  cheering  their  men  on  in  the  awful  work 
of  killing  and  plunder. 

The  doctor's  horse  stood  saddled  at  the  door. 
His  first  thought  was  for  the  hospital  and  the 
girls'  boarding  school,  at  the  edge  of  the  city, 
where  the  ladies  were  alone.  Jumping  into  the 
saddle,  he  was  off  on  a  run.  As  he  entered  the 
city,  he  passed  through  a  crowd  of  Kurds  armed 
with  guns,  axes,  clubs,  and  butcher  knives,  swarm- 
ing out  of  their  quarters  to  attack  their  Armenian 
neighbors.  At  the  school,  the  American  teacher 
had  gathered  the  white-faced,  terrified  girls  about 
her  in  prayer,  while  across  the  street,  at  the  hos- 
pital. Dr.  Hamilton  and  the  American  nurse.  Miss 
Trowbridge,  were  quietly  going  about  their  work 
in  the  wards. 

The  mob  had  gathered  in  numbers  and  came 
surging  up  the  street,  vowing  that  they  would 
hang  the  doctor  on  his  own  gate-post.  As,  with 
loud  cries,  they  attacked  the  hospital  gate,  the 
doctor  threw  it  open  to  meet  the  mob  and  reason 
with  them.  There,  in  the  gateway,  with  his  three 
hundred  pounds  of  weight  surrounded  by  a  broad 


110  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

girdle,  stood  the  portly  and  valiant  Hadji  Husein^ 
holding  the  mob  at  bay.  Had  not  the  doctor  held 
death  at  bay  for  his  brother  some  years  before? 
'^If  any  man  passes  through  this  gate,'^  he 
shouted,  ^'he  passes  over  my  dead  bodyP'  Just 
then  a  band  of  soldiers  arrived  and  scattered  the 
mob. 

Later,  leaving  the  touring  missionary,  Mr. 
Sanders,  with  the  ladies  at  the  school,  the  doctor 
returned  to  his  family.  Meanwhile,  a  cordon  of 
soldiers  had  been  placed  between  the  city  and  the 
college.  When,  the  next  morning,  he  tried  to  go 
back  to  his  hospital,  the  captain  in  command  of 
the  cordon  would  not  let  him  pass,  and  when 
he  insisted,  put  him  in  charge  of  a  squadron  of 
soldiers  with  fixed  bayonets  and  sent  him  back 
home.  That  was  one  of  the  longest  days  the  doc- 
tor ever  spent.  To  know  that  many  of  his  friends 
were  lying  wounded,  others  in  terror  and  despair 
and  mourning  for  their  dead,  and  he  not  able  to 
reach  them!  On  Sunday  morning,  from  the  top 
of  the  college  tower,  the  doctor  could  see,  through 
his  field-glasses,  a  gathering  crowd  of  thousands 
of  armed  Kurdish  and  Turkish  villagers.  Just  at 
noon,  with  blood-curdling  yells,  the  mob  broke 
through  the  cordon  of  soldiers  and  surged  into 


FACING  THE  MOB  111 

the  Armenian  quarter  of  the  city  below  the  hos- 
pital. In  a  few  minutes  appeared  a  Turkish  offi- 
cer on  a  white  horse,  who,  with  sword  and  pis- 
tol, drove  the  mob  pell-mell  out  of  the  city  and  a 
long  way  into  the  fields. 

Meanwhile,  as  they  saw  the  renewed  attack  from 
a  window.  Dr.  Hamilton  and  Miss  Trowbridge 
went  to  the  wards  to  be  with  their  patients  when 
the  end  should  come.  After  a  time  there  came 
a  great  knocking  on  the  street  gate.  ^'It  is  the 
mob,''  they  thought,  and  the  patients  began  to 
tremble  and  scream.  But  when  they  looked  out, 
there  at  the  gate  stood  big,  kindly  Hadji  Husein, 
the  man  who  had  saved  them  the  day  before.  The 
tears  were  streaming  down  his  fat  face  onto  his 
broad  girdle,  and  with  him  was  a  company  of 
women  and  children,  terribly  hacked  and  hewed. 
He,  with  a  few  intrepid  followers,  had  helped 
to  chase  the  mob  away,  and  had  gathered  up 
the  victims  left  by  the  cruel  onslaught.  With 
wonderful  heroism,  Dr.  Hamilton  set  to  work  on 
the  poor,  mangled  creatures.  Among  them  was 
an  old  man  with  the  back  of  his  head  laid  open 
by  an  ax,  so  that  the  skull  gaped  an  inch  or 
more,  showing  the  throbbing  brain.  ''Lay  him 
down  there,"  said  Dr.  Hamilton  after  a  glance, 


112  SHEPARD  QF  AINTAB 

^'his  is  a  hopeless  case.''  "When  the  others  were 
all  gone,  she  examined  him,  and  finding  him  still 
alive,  drew  the  wound  together  with  a  bandage; 
then,  putting  on  an  antiseptic  dressing,  gave  him 
a  bed.  The  old  man's  wound  healed  rapidly,  and 
he  was  the  first  of  the  unfortunate  victims  to  leave 
the  hospital. 

Monday  morning  the  doctor  again  mounted  his 
horse  and  started  for  the  city.  Again  he  was 
stopped  by  an  officer  and  told  to  go  back  home. 

''I  will  not  go  back,"  replied  the  doctor.  *^I 
do  not  recognize  your  authority.  I  will  go  to 
your  superior  officer,  if  you  choose  to  send  me, 
but  I  will  not  go  back. ' ' 

The  doctor's  bold  answer  won  out,  and  with 
three  soldiers  he  was  sent  to  the  commanding  offi- 
cer from  whom  he  received  permission  to  care 
for  the  wounded  and  to  bury  the  dead.  By  night 
fifty-four  wounded  persons  were  brought  in  and 
cared  for,  and  soon  after,  beds  had  to  be  spread 
on  the  floor,  while  the  basement  of  the  hospital, 
and  even  the  stable,  were  occupied  by  the  unfor- 
tunate sufferers,  until  one  hundred  and  fifty  had 
been  taken  in. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  village  of  Zeitoun,  the  so- 
called  *^war"  was  still  going  on.    Five  hundred 


FACING  THE  MOB  113 

half-clad,  half-armed  Armenian  outlaws,  in  their 
snow-bound  mountain  fastness,  were  fighting  back 
the  thirty-four  regiments  of  Turkish  soldiers  that 
besieged  them.  When  their  ammunition  gave  out, 
they  made  bullets  of  the  enemy's  shells,  many  of 
which  had  fallen  without  bursting.  Then  the  Eu- 
ropean powers  interfered  and  half  a  dozen  consuls 
were  sent  to  the  little  town  to  arrange  a  truce. 

*^Sick  with  typhus;  come  to  me,'*  came  a  tele- 
gram to  Dr.  Shepard  from  a  former  pupil  in 
Marash  who  was  one  of  the  two  doctors  in  that 
city. 

^^  Cannot  leave  Aintab,"  wired  back  Dr.  Shep- 
ard. 

'  ^  Sick  with  typhus ;  come  to  me, ' '  read  another 
telegram  from  the  other  doctor  in  Marash,  who 
was  also  a  former  pupil. 

And  the  doctor  went. 

Just  as  he  was  leaving  home,  a  third  telegram 
was  handed  to  him  from  the  British  Consul  in 
Zeitoun.  *^  Epidemic  of  typhus,  fifty  deaths  a 
day;  can  Dr.  Shepard  come  at  once!" 

^'En  route  to  Marash,''  replied  the  doctor; 
** write  me  there." 

When  Dr.  Shepard  reached  Zeitoun,  he  found 
21,000  refugees   crowded  together  in  the  little 


114  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

town.  After  the  long  siege,  when  even  the  dead 
could  not  be  carried  out  to  be  buried,  the  people 
were  in  a  starving  condition.  With  the  crowding 
and  filth,  the  ''cooties''  were  hard  at  work,  carry- 
ing typhus  germs  from  one  sick  person  to  another. 
The  people  seemed  to  fear  nothing  so  much  as  a 
breath  of  outside  air;  but,  in  spite  of  the  fears 
of  the  patients  and  the  protests  of  the  old  women, 
the  doctor  had  them  all  carried  out  on  the  broad 
verandahs  of  the  houses.  It  worked  like  a  charm. 
In  less  than  a  week,  instead  of  forty-five  to  fifty 
people  dying  in  one  day,  only  four  or  ^ve  died. 
The  doctor  then  had  a  mountain  stream  turned 
into  the  streets  at  the  upper  end  of  the  town, 
and  with  a  gang  of  men  with  hoes  and  brooms, 
to  help  things  along,  the  place  got  such  a  scrub- 
bing as  it  never  had  experienced  before. 

One  day,  as  Dr.  Shepard  was  holding  a  clinic  for 
the  sick,  he  heard  a  great  commotion  at  the  gate. 
Stepping  out  to  see  what  the  matter  was,  he  found 
a  big  burly  outlaw  pushing  his  way  past  the 
gate-keeper,  whose  duty  it  was  to  see  that  the 
patients  entered  in  turn. 

"What  do  you  want,  my  brother?"  asked  the 
doctor. 

"I  want  to  see  the  doctor,''  blustered  the  man. 


FACING  THE  MOB  115 

**But  it  is  not  your  turn,''  replied  the  busy 
doctor.  ^^We  have  to  have  system  here.  This  is 
no  way  to  do." 

'^Well,  this  is  the  way  we  do  in  Zeitoun,"  swag- 
gered the  man. 

*^Have  it  the  Zeitoun  way,  if  you  must,"  replied 
the  doctor ;  and  seizing  the  big  bully  by  the  ' '  scruif 
of  the  neck,"  he  threw  him  out  into  the  street. 

As  soon  as  a  Red  Cross  relief  expedition,  which 
Dr.  Shepard  had  called  for,  arrived  in  Zeitoun, 
he  returned  to  Aintab.  There,  too,  the  suffering 
had  been  great.  Fear  still  held  the  people  in  its 
clutch.  Prominent  Christians  were  imprisoned, 
shops  could  not  be  opened,  and  no  work  was  to 
be  had.  It  was  then  that  the  orphanage  was 
started  for  fatherless  waifs,  and  Mrs.  Shepard 
increased  her  industries  for  the  poor  widows. 
Many  a  coin  found  its  way  from  the  doctor's  own 
pocket — never  too  ^^well  lined" — into  the  hand 
of  some  starving  patient. 

One  day  a  woman  brought  her  little  baby  for 
the  doctor  to  examine.  As  he  looked  pitifully  at 
its  little  pinched  face,  his  hand  went  to  his  pocket. 
**It  is  milk  the  child  needs,  not  medicine,"  he 
said;  ^^buy  it  milk,"  and  he  handed  the  woman  a 
coin.    Stooping  to  kiss  his  feet,  the  woman  hur- 


116  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

ried  away,  calling  down  blessings  on  his  head. 
In  a  few  days  she  was  back  again. 

^^Well,  what  is  it,  my  daughter!"  asked  the 
doctor,  expecting  another  plea  for  help. 

To  his  surprise,  she  held  out  the  coin  he  had 
given  her  a  few  days  before.  ^*When  I  got 
home,''  she  said,  ^'I  learned  that  my  husband 
had  found  a  job.  He  had  earned  a  few  metaliks 
[cents]  and  we  bought  the  milk,  so  I  brought  this 
back;  take  it  and  give  it  to  some  one  who  needs 
it  more  than  I. ' ' 

Abdul  Hamid  on  his  throne  might  fan  the 
hatreds  of  his  subjects  into  flame,  but  in  the  hos- 
pital at  Aintab  the  doctor  and  his  associates  still 
treated  all  alike,  and  the  patients  caught  their 
spirit.  The  little  Armenian  girl,  wounded  by  Mos- 
lem persecutors,  was  caring  tenderly  for  the  lone- 
some little  Moslem  child  beside  her.  When  the 
bandage  was  removed  from  the  eyes  of  an  old 
Turk,  after  a  successful  operation  for  cataract,  a 
chorus  of  congratulations  rang  out  from  the  Chris- 
tian patients  in  the  ward.  In  the  city  itself  many 
Moslems  protected  their  Armenian  friends  from 
death,  so  that  the  number  of  victims  in  Aintab 
was  much  smaller  than  in  many  other  places. 

What  a  glad  day  it  was  for  the  Armenians  when, 


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FACING  THE  MOB  117 

in  1908,  their  persecutor,  the  wily  old  Abdul 
Hamid,  was  forced  to  accept  the  constitutional 
government  which  the  *^ Young  Turk"  party  de- 
clared. Processions  marched  through  the  streets 
carrying  gay  banners,  flaunting  bold  words  which 
no  one  dared  to  whisper  before.  ''Liberty,  Fra- 
ternity, Equality."  In  the  province  of  Adana, 
however,  where  the  Armenians  had  escaped  the 
massacre  of  1895  and  had  grown  prosperous,  the 
old  Turks  hated  them  more  than  ever,  and  only 
waited  for  a  chance  to  plunder  them  of  their 
riches. 

* '  What !  Equality  with  the  Christian  dogs  1  We 
will  see  about  that,  some  fine  day!"  they  thought. 
When  the  news  came  from  Constantinople  that 
Abdul  Hamid  had  again  seized  the  reins  and  was 
in  full  power,  they  made  the  best  of  their  brief 
chance. 

Some  days  before,  many  of  Dr.  Shepard's 
friends  from  Aintab,  pastors,  college  professors, 
and  teachers,  had  started  for  Adana  to  attend  a 
conference  of  Christian  workers.  Eumors  of 
trouble  in  that  city  began  to  float  in,  and  then 
came  a  telegram  from  Adana:  *' Rogers  and 
Maurer  murdered,  all  other  Americans  safe." 

These  two  young  Americans  had  been  shot  by 


118  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

Turks  in  Adana,  while  they  were  making  a  heroic 
fight  against  the  fire  which  had  been  kindled  by 
the  mob  near  their  school.  Two  days  later,  a 
muleteer  who  had  gone  with  the  delegates  to  the 
conference  came  back,  bringing  the  news  that  they 
all  had  been  murdered  on  the  road.  Refugees  be- 
gan to  flock  in,  telling  of  terrible  massacres  in 
their  mountain  homes.  Dr.  Shepard  was  eager 
as  ever  to  be  on  the  front  lines  of  service ;  but  a 
massacre  might  occur  at  any  moment  in  Aintab 
itself,  and  the  people  felt  that  the  very  presence 
of  the  doctor  was  a  safeguard  to  them,  for  were 
not  the  Moslems  of  the  city  his  personal  friends  ? 
When  news  came,  however,  that  the  old  Sultan 
had  finally  been  deposed,  he  lost  no  time  in  mount- 
ing his  horse  and  hurrying  toward  the  burned 
villages.  The  next  day  found  him  a  guest  at  the 
home  of  his  friend  Hadji  Chaoush,  in  the  village 
of  Islahie.  Many  persons  fleeing  from  other 
towns  had  found  a  refuge  there,  and  there  the 
mob  had  come  to  find  and  finish  them.  The  white- 
turbaned  Moslem  judge  had  stood  in  the  market- 
place and  read  the  fetvah  [the  ecclesiastical  order] 
for  the  killing  of  the  Giaours ;  and  he  had  prayed 
for  the  success  of  the  arms  of  the  faithful. 
Threatening   the   Kaimakam    [governor    of   the 


FACING  THE  MOB  119 

place]  until  he  was  cowed,  the  judge  led  the  mob 
toward  the  buildings  where  the  refugees  were 
crowded.  Then  it  was  that  old  Hadji  Chaoush, 
rifle  in  hand,  stepped  out  and  faced  the  mad 
throng.  A  torrent  of  scathing  words  poured  from 
his  lips. 

*^Who  is  there  among  you,  a  friend  of  mine 
and  a  friend  of  right,  who  will  stand  by  me?" 
he  shouted. 

Out  stepped  his  son,  three  or  four  trusty  ser- 
vants, and  finally  the  trembling  governor,  and 
took  their  places  at  his  side. 

*'You  off-scourings  who  call  yourselves  Mos- 
lems, but  who  neither  respect  the  law  nor  fear 
God,"  he  cried,  ^^do  you  clamor  for  blood?  You 
shall  have  it!  We  will  fire  upon  you  as  soon  as 
we  can  load  our  guns!" 

He  threw  a  cartridge  into  his  rifle,  and  know- 
ing him  of  old,  they  scattered  like  a  covey  of  par- 
tridges. Fifteen  days  later,  he  was  still  protect- 
ing eighty  women  and  children  in  his  home,  and 
one  of  the  girls  there  had  been  rescued  from  a 
Circassian  by  the  son  of  Hadji  Chaoush. 

After  spending  the  night  with  this  valiant 
friend,  the  doctor  set  out  for  Baghje,  the  seat  of 
government.    Here  there  was  no  Hadji  Chaoush  to 


120  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

stop  the  fiendish  work  of  the  wild  mob,  and  the 
religious  leader,  or  Mufti,  who  had  treacherously 
promised  the  Christians  protection,  had  pushed 
the  horrible  work  to  a  finish.  He  had  ordered 
two  of  the  leading  men,  from  whom  he  had  re- 
ceived large  bribes  to  protect  them,  taken  out 
of  the  mosque  where  they  had  fled  for  refuge, 
and  had  them  killed  before  him,  in  the  public 
square,  while  he  danced  a  wild  dance  of  joy  and 
thanked  Allah  that  he  had  been  permitted  to  see 
that  day.  Even  the  German  engineers  working 
on  the  railroad  had  heartlessly  delivered  up  those 
who  fled  to  them  for  protection.  Now  the  few 
survivors  were  crowded  into  the  mosque,  which 
the  wicked  Mufti  was  planning  to  burn  as  soon  as 
other  victims  should  be  brought  in.  In  the  Prot- 
estant church  and  schoolhouse  were  huddled  the 
women  and  children  from  Hassan  Beyli,  a  beauti- 
ful village  of  the  Amanus  Mountains,  where  the 
doctor  had  made  many  a  visit  and  had  many 
friends.  For  one  whole  day,  the  2000  Armenians 
of  this  place  had  fought  back  the  mob,  but  when 
night  fell,  and  their  houses  were  fired,  they  fled 
to  the  mountains.  The  women  begged  their  men 
to  flee  for  refuge  to  other  cities,  while  they,  with 
their  children,  were  sent  to  Baghje.    There  they 


FACING  THE  MOB  121 

had  been  crowded  into  the  church  so  close  that 
they  could  not  lie  down.  They  had  almost 
nothing  to  eat.  Their  only  drinking  water  was 
from  the  gutter  in  the  street.  They  dared  not 
step  outside  of  the  door,  but  on  the  fifteenth  day, 
the  widow  of  the  pastor  who  had  been  killed  in 
the  raid  on  the  village,  mustered  courage  enough 
to  go  out  and  look  down  the  street;  and  there, 
riding  toward  her  on  his  horse,  was  the  well- 
known  figure  of  the  beloved  physician.  *^It  was 
as  if  the  Savior  himself  were  coming  to  our  res- 
cue,'^ she  said,  as  she  told  of  it  afterward. 

As  always,  the  doctor's  first  care  was  for  the 
sick  and  wounded ;  his  second,  to  secure  food  and 
protection  for  these  people.  In  a  few  days,  the 
refugees  from  Hassan  Beyli  were  sent  back  to 
their  village,  where  every  house  had  been  burned, 
but  where  they  could  at  least  have  pure  air,  fresh 
water,  and  fruit  from  their  trees. 

^^It  was  a  most  pitiful  sight,"  wrote  the  doctor, 
'*a  squadron  of  twenty-five  soldiers  in  front,  then 
the  poor  things,  mostly  barefooted  and  in  rags, 
with  little  bundles  of  wheat  or  old  clothes,  old 
kerosene  tins  for  cooking  pots,  and  here  and  there 
one  with  a  bit  of  board  on  which  to  roll  out  their 
*thin  bread.' 


122  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

^^You  see  the  problem  before  me.  Some  5000 
people  to  be  fed  by  the  Turkish  government,  if 
possible;  if  not,  by  other  means/' 

The  people  had  neither  money  nor  credit,  tools 
nor  implements;  not  even  a  cup  or  a  spoon,  not 
a  cooking  pot  or  a  pan,  not  a  bed  or  a  blanket, 
not  an  extra  undergarment.  The  first  thing  the 
doctor  did  to  meet  this  problem  was  to  send  an 
appeal  to  the  Christian  people  of  Aintab,  and 
nobly  did  they  respond.  *^The  first  caravan  of 
twenty-two  loads  from  Aintab,'*  wrote  the  doc- 
tor, ^'contained  one  bale  of  over  a  thousand 
wooden  spoons,  beds  and  bedding  for  the  sick, 
some  tools,  and  a  blacksmith's  outfit  with  which 
we  could  make  more.  These  caravans  of  goods, 
contributed  by  the  poor  Armenians  of  Aintab, 
kept  coming  in  every  three  to  five  days,  until  two 
hundred  loads  had  reached  us.  We  soon  had  two 
blacksmiths  busy  making  sickles  for  the  approach- 
ing harvest,  carpenters  making  threshing  ma- 
chines, etc.  We  bought  wool  and  cotton,  and  Mrs. 
Shepard  soon  had  many  of  the  women  employed 
in  washing,  carding,  and  spinning;  then  looms 
were  set  up  and  cloth,  blankets,  and  sacks  began 
to  add  their  comforts  to  the  re-bom  civilization.'* 

Meanwhile,  because  of  Dr.  Shepard's  reports 


FACING  THE  MOB  123 

and  urgent  appeals  to  the  government,  funds  were 
appropriated  for  feeding  these  poor  people  and 
for  rebuilding  their  burned  houses. 

Djemal  Pasha,  who  figured  so  largely  in  the  re- 
cent war  as  Governor  of  Syria  and  Minister  of 
Marine,  was  appointed  Governor  General  of 
Adana.  On  his  arrival,  he  formed  a  Committee 
of  Belief  and  Kebuilding,  of  which  he  appointed 
Dr.  Shepard  chairman.  During  the  next  ten 
months  the  doctor  supervised  the  building  of  900 
houses  and  gave  out  $100,000  worth  of  relief  funds. 
The  money  was  often  carried  by  him  in  his  saddle- 
bags, and  riding  back  and  forth  over  the  rocky 
mountain  paths,  he  covered  3000  miles  on  his  good 
horse  during  those  ten  months.  He  usually  car- 
ried a  gun;  but  one  day,  as  he  was  riding  un- 
armed, he  met  two  Turks  on  the  road. 

**Who  is  this  Giaour,"  asked  one  of  the  other, 
*^who  dares  to  ride  about  these  mountains  without 
firearms?" 

*^God  protect  the  man,"  replied  the  other,  *  Vho 
dares  do  aught  to  that  Giaour!" 

Meanwhile,  Mrs.  Shepard  was  called  by  the 
Commission  in  Adana  to  establish  industries  for 
the  women  there  and  in  surrounding  places,  and 
she   spent   several  months   in  association   with 


124  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

Djemal  Pasha  and  his  wife  in  carrying  on  this 
beneficent  work. 

For  the  special  service  rendered  by  the  doctor 
in  this  reconstruction  work,  he  was  awarded  a 
decoration  by  the  Sultan.  The  following  congrat- 
ulatory letter  is  from  Djemal  Pasha. 

Adaita,  1st  February,  1911. 
Dr.  F.  D.  Shepard, 

Orange,  N.  J.,  U.  S.  A. 

Dear  Sir : — 

Your  most  honored  favor,  dated  October  29, 
1910,  on  hand.  It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to 
hear  from  one  of  our  sincere  friends.  The  Young 
Turks,  who  are  struggling  for  the  welfare  of  their 
beloved  country,  know  well  how  to  appreciate  the 
services  even  of  those  generous  persons  though 
of  foreign  birth.  The  decoration  bestowed  upon 
you  by  our  Ottoman  government  is  nothing  com- 
pared with  your  most  admiring  sympathy  shown 
to  the  suffering  humanity. 

America  is  happy  in  having  given  birth  to  de- 
voted sons  like  you,  whose  motto  is  to  serve  man- 
kind. It  was  my  humble  duty  to  reach  to  the  help 
of  my  wretched  country;  and  I  thank  you  for  the 
sentiment  which  you  will  arouse  toward  the  Otto- 
man Empire  in  America. 

We  are  grateful  to  our  most  true  and  humani- 
tarian friends,  who  sympathize  with  us  at  such 


FACING  THE  MOB  125 

a  critical  time  as  this.  I  wish  to  see  you  deco- 
rated with  higher  honors  than  this,  and  will  feel 
myself  always  happy  to  hear  from  yon  and  of 
your  good  health. 

Thanking  you  again  for  your  prayers  and 
favors,  I  remain,  as  ever, 

Your  sincere  friend, 
Governor  General  of  Adana, 

Djemal  Pasha. 

For  the  same  service,  the  Eed  Cross  conferred 
on  Dr.  Shepard  its  medal  of  merit  with  the  fol- 
lowing letter.  ^ 

Washington,  D.  C,  December  23,  1909. 
Dear  Sir: — 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Incorporators  of 
the  American  National  Red  Cross,  which  was  held 
in  this  city  on  December  7th,  1909,  it  was  unani- 
mously voted  that,  in  recognition  of  your  valuable 
services,  voluntarily  rendered,  in  relief  of  the 
suifering  caused  by  the  massacres  in  Eastern  Tur- 
key, during  the  early  part  of  the  current  year,  the 
Eed  Cross  medal  be  awarded  to  you. 

I  have  the  pleasure  of  sending  to  you  herewith, 
as  a  souvenir  of  the  services  rendered,  the  Eed 
Cross  medal  of  merit. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

William  H.  Taft,  President. 

Dr.  F.  D.  Shepard. 


126  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

Though  he  was  deeply  touched  by  the  apprecia- 
tion which  these  honors  betokened,  Dr.  Shepard 
could  never  be  persuaded  to  wear  the  gilded  cres- 
cent from  the  Sultan  or  the  beautiful  red  cross, 


^*But  deep  in  his  soul  the  sign  he  wore, 
The  badge  of  the  suffering  and  the  poor. 


>> 


vn 

SUMMER  OUTINGS  AND  HUNTING  TRIPS 

COLLEGE  commencement  was  over.  The  ses- 
sions of  the  annual  meeting  of  missionaries 
and  Christian  workers  were  closed.  The  last  op- 
eration of  the  season  at  the  hospital  had  been  per- 
formed, the  last  clinic  held,  the  last  city  visit 
made.  It  would  take  a  volume  to  tell  of  the  doc- 
tor's work  during  that  week,  and  he  was  tired. 
Now  the  caravan  stood  waiting  to  start  for  the 
mountain  camp.  Two  days  of  travel  it  would  take, 
and  then  up  the  mountain  to  the  spot  which  the 
whole  family  loved  more  than  any  other  in  the 
land. 

The  doctor  was  busy  with  the  last  preparations 
for  the  journey.  The  heavy  pine  chests  of  books, 
photographic  supplies,  and  clothing  were  strapped 
on  the  stoutest  mule.  The  big  bales  of  bedding 
were  slung  on  either  side  of  the  gentle  old  horse. 
A  mattress  was  thrown  on  top,  to  make  a  soft, 
wide   seat  for  the   oldest   daughter.     The   two 

127 


128  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

younger  children,  with  great  glee,  climbed  into  the 
maafas,  or  canopied  boxes,  hung  on  either  side 
the  pack-saddle,  across  which  they  conld  play 
peek-a-boo,  as  they  swung  along  the  road.  Tents, 
camp-beds,  and  the  camp-kitchen  outfit  made  up 
several  more  loads,  with  cook  and  horse-boy 
seated  high  on  top.  Finally,  the  doctor  helped 
Mrs.  Shepard  into  her  saddle  and  swung  into  his. 
With  a  shouted  good-by  and  the  cling-clang  of 
big  bells,  the  long  caravan  w^as  under  way. 

What  a  glorious  trip  that  was  for  the  children  t 
There  was  the  stop  at  noon,  under  the  walnut 
(tree  beside  the  village  spring,  where  a  villager 
brought  them  sweet  apricots  to  ''top  off  their 
lunch.  To  be  sure,  it  was  not  very  pleasant  to 
have  so  many  persons  staring  and  asking  stupid 
questions  even  while  they  ate.  But  their  father 
seemed  not  to  mind  it  at  all  and  spent  every 
minute,  until  they  resumed  the  journey,  in  look- 
ing over  the  dirty,  ragged  people  and  telling  them 
what  they  must  do  to  get  well.  By  night,  they 
were  so  tired  they  could  hardly  wait  until  the 
camp-beds  were  unloaded  and  put  up  on  the  sward 
near  the  spring,  to  tumble  in  and  drop  off  to 
sleep,  while  the  little  bells  tinkled  as  the  horses 
munched  the  barley  in  their  nose-bags.    What  a 


SUMMER  OUTINGS  AND  HUNTING  TRIPS  129 

delightful,  creepy,  shivery  feeling  when  they  were 
wakened  in  the  dim  dawn,  even  before  the  red 
glow  had  crept  into  the  sky,  to  have  their  hot 
bread  and  milk  and  climb  into  their  swinging 
boxes  again,  to  drowse  off  for  another  nap. 
What  a  thrill  of  excitement  when  they  crossed  a 
river !  Their  muleteer  had  to  wade  in  deep,  lead- 
ing their  pack-horse  across  the  ford ;  and  the  mule 
with  the  heavy  chests  suddenly  slipped  and  went 
down  under  water  and  had  to  be  hauled  out,  with 
many  shouts.  Then,  at  the  next  noon  stop,  the 
whole  load  had  to  be  unpacked  and  dried  out 
and  packed  up  again. 

Best  of  all,  was  the  stop  in  the  village  of  Eybez, 
After  crossing  the  great  hot  plain,  up,  up,  up,  they 
climbed,  past  the  oleanders  by  a  stream,  into  the 
little  village  that  looked  like  a  birds'  nest,  lying 
in  a  hollow  of  great  mountains  towering  into  the 
sky.  How  the  little  children  in  the  streets  scam- 
pered about,  crying,  ^^Shippet  has  come,  Shippet 
has  come!'*  Then,  through  the  great  gateway, 
they  entered  the  courtyard  belonging  to  the  lead- 
ing man  of  the  village,  their  father's  special 
friend.  They  did  not  mind  the  crowds  this  time, 
for  they  were  all  old  friends,  and  from  the  Agha 
[head  man]  himself  down  to  the  tiniest  nephew 


130  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

in  the  tribe,  they  were  all  running  about,  trying 
to  make  the  travelers  comfortable.  How  good 
the  cool  water  felt  as  it  was  poured  on  their  hot 
hands  and  feet !  An  array  of  good  things  to  eat 
was  set  out  on  the  tray  for  supper,  and  then  the 
children  crawled  into  beds,  spread  out  in  a  row 
on  the  flat  roof  under  winking  stars,  while  the 
barking  of  village  dogs,  the  bleating  of  lambs, 
the  crowing  of  roosters,  and  the  crying  of  babies 
on  the  roofs  across  the  way  grew  fainter  and 
fainter,  until  the  sounds  were  lost  in  sleep. 

Up  the  steep  mountain  trail  they  climbed  the 
next  morning,  up  and  up  the  pine-covered  slopes 
until  they  reached  the  pass  and  could  look  oif 
on  the  other  side.  There,  from  between  two  great 
peaks,  they  could  see  the  Gulf  of  Alexandretta, 
sparkling  like  a  great  silver  tray,  in  the  morning 
sun. 

On  they  wound,  across  ridge  after  ridge  of  the 
steep  mountain,  through  the  green  forest  of 
young  beech  and  oak  and  pine,  until  they  reached 
the  camping  spot,  5000  feet  above  sea-level.  No 
sooner  were  the  children  off  their  animals  than 
they  started  a  race  for  the  spring,  hidden  by  fern 
and  smilax,  in  the  valley  hard  by. 

Meanwhile,  the  grown-ups  were  all  busy  setting 


SUMMER  OUTINGS  AND  HUNTING  TRIPS  131 

up  the  camp;  tents  for  sleeping,  a  shelter  of 
houghs  for  the  kitchen,  two  walls  of  poles  and 
boughs  for  the  dining-room,  with  a  canvas  top  and 
a  curtain  on  the  windward  side,  a  little  booth  of 
poles  and  branches  for  the  cook,  and  another  for 
the  horse-boy.  In  short  order  the  camp  was  set- 
tled for  the  summer. 

A  number  of  American  and  Armenian  friends 
usually  joined  the  doctor's  family  in  their  moun- 
tain camp.  Never  could  they  forget  the  evenings 
spent  about  the  huge  bonfire  built  against  the  old 
pine  stump.  While  the  flames  crackled  among  the 
great  logs  piled  together,  song  and  story  passed 
about  the  merry  group,  and  right  royally  did  the 
doctor  do  his  share  in  entertaining  the  company. 

One  evening,  when  there  was  a  special  celebra- 
tion, stunts  were  proposed,  and  the  doctor  was 
asked  to  make  a  stump  speech.  When  he  refused, 
saying  that  speaking  was  not  in  his  line,  two 
of  the  young  huskies  decided  they  would  set  him 
on  the  stump,  whether  or  no.  But  they  had  not 
counted  on  the  doctor's  tremendous  strength. 
The  struggle  which  followed  proved  him  to  be 
more  than  a  match  for  them  both. 

Sunday  morning  the  family  would  start  out  for 
some  favorite  spot  which  commanded  a  magnifi- 


132  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

cent  view.  Here  they  would  settle  themselves, 
with  books  and  lunch,  for  the  long,  delightful  day 
of  rest  and  comradeship.  First  came  the  little 
service,  led  by  the  doctor,  and  then  the  Sunday 
reading,  while  the  children  whittled  or  made  little 
camps  on  the  ground. 

**  All  about  us,''  wrote  the  doctor,  *4s  the  eternal 
Sabbath  of  the  hills.  I  get  nowhere  else  the  over- 
whelming sense  of  God's  presence,  the  ineffable 
peace  that  comes  to  me  in  the  mountains."  Those 
who  knew  liim  best  felt  that  he  had  drawn  into 
his  life  something  of  the  strength  and  beauty  of 
the  mountains  he  so  loved. 

Often,  on  a  week  day,  the  whole  day  was  spent 
in  a  picnic  beside  a  lovely  mountain  stream  or 
near  the  bold  top  of  the  mountain,  to  enjoy  the 
distant  view.  Below  a  dashing  waterfall,  in  one 
of  the  mountain  streams,  there  was  often  a  deep 
swimming-pool ;  and,  before  lunch,  those  who  were 
not  afraid  of  the  icy  cold  water  went  in  for  a  dip, 
while  the  potatoes  were  baking  in  the  hot  ashes 
of  the  fire  the  doctor  had  built.  To  go  with  the 
potatoes  and  butter,  there  were  squares  of  venison 
or  wild  boar,  shot  by  the  doctor  and  cooked  by 
him  to  a  turn,  on  sharp  green  twigs,  over  the  fire. 
One  day,  when  the  doctor  felt  in  his  pocket  for 


4,  *•: 


"«V*i*-**.I 


DR.    SHEPARD    CLIMBING    A    MOUNTAIN    IN    ASIATIC    TURKEY 


SUMMER  OUTINGS  AND  HUNTING  TRIPS  133 

matches  to  light  the  fire,  he  found,  to  his  disgust, 
that  the  matches  had  been  left  behind.  ISfo  one  else 
in  the  party  could  produce  one,  and  it  began  to 
look  as  if  there  would  be  no  lunch  that  day  but 
bread  and  nuts  and  raisins.  The  doctor,  however, 
was  equal  to  the  emergency.  He  built  a  little  pile 
of  brushwood,  then  aimed  his  shotgun  and  pulled 
the  trigger.  There  was  a  loud  report,  and  inune- 
diately  the  little  pile  was  ablaze.  After  lunch  the 
party  stretched  themselves  out  on  the  ground,  in 
the  shade  of  the  thick  oak  forest,  while  the  doctor 
read  a  chapter  from  Dickens  or  Stevenson  or 
George  Macdonald,  and  Mrs.  Shepard  arranged 
rare  ferns  and  flowers  between  drying  papers,  to 
press  them  for  her  botany  class. 

How  the  children  loved  to  hear  their  father 
read,  with  the  rising  and  falling  inflections  that 
made  it  all  so  real,  and  the  little  catch  that  came 
in  his  voice  when  he  read  some  touching  passage 
that  made  a  lump  rise  in  their  own  throats. 

On  a  cold  evening,  when  it  was  raining  too  hard 
for  a  bonfire,  they  would  crawl  under  the  warm 
blankets  of  the  cot-beds  in  the  tent  and  listen  to 
*^  Little  Dorrit"  or  *'Sir  Gibbie,"  while  the  pat- 
tering rain  made  music  on  the  tent  roof  above. 

Often,  in  the  early  gray  of  the  dawn,  before  the 


134  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

children  were  awake,  when  the  twigs  and  leaves 
were  still  wet  with  the  night  mist,  the  doctor 
slipped  on  his  old  green  hunting-suit  and  cap 
and  high  moccasins  and  glided  out  into  the  silent 
woods  to  stalk  a  deer  he  had  spied  in  the  woods 
the  day  before.  Several  times  a  season  he  would 
come  struggling  back  to  camp  with  a  big  deer 
slung  over  his  shoulders.  After  dinner  came  the 
story  of  the  hunt,  which  was  enjoyed  quite  as 
much  as  the  broiled  venison. 

Often,  on  a  still,  moonlight  night,  the  doctor 
would  lie  for  hours  beside  a  pig-wallow,  waiting 
for  Mr.  Pig  to  arrive.  The  wild  boar  hunted  in 
droves  over  the  mountain,  rooting  up  the  leaf- 
mold  with  their  snouts,  searching  for  bulbs  or 
for  acorns.  They  were  great  travelers  and  would 
run  all  the  way  down  the  mountain  or  across  the 
plains  to  the  rice-fields  to  feed  and  then  back  to 
their  mountain  brush  again,  all  in  a  night.  Some 
particular  boar  would  choose  a  mud-hole  in  w^hich 
to  wallow  and  then  scratch  his  back  against  a 
near-by  tree.  Lying  silent  beside  the  wallow,  the 
doctor  occasionally  shot  a  boar  when  it  appeared 
to  take  its  mud  bath.  A  keen  sense  of  smell 
helped  the  doctor  in  these  still  hunts.  One  moon- 
light night,  catching  the  scent  of  wild  boar,  he 


SUMMER  OUTINGS  AND  HUNTING  TRIPS  135 

followed  it  up  the  wind  for  half  an  hour  without' 
hearing  or  seeing  anything.  Then  he  suddenly 
came  out  on  the  edge  of  a  clearing  covered  with 
bracken  fern  growing  hip-high.  Charging  across 
the  open  space  was  his  wild  boar. 

**He  has  got  wind  of  me,''  thought  the  doctor, 
**and  I  shall  lose  him."  But  the  pig  had  only 
caught  the  scent  of  the  wild  apples  under  a  tree 
at  the  edge  of  the  clearing. 

As  the  boar  stopped  to  munch  the  juicy  fruit, 
the  doctor  could  just  catch  sight  of  his  back  above 
the  bracken  in  the  moonlight.  He  leveled  his  gun 
and  fired.  Then  he  stopped  to  listen.  The  boar 
had  disappeared  and  not  a  sound  was  to  be  heard. 
Walking  cautiously  to  the  place,  he  found  that 
the  pig  had  dropped  on  the  spot  where  he  was 
feeding  when  the  bullet  struck  him.  It  was  a 
little  yearling,  and  it  made  the  finest  eating  in 
the  world. 

Several  times  while  hunting  in  the  woods  the 
doctor  ran  across  a  bear.  Once,  as  he  was  fol- 
lowing a  trail  near  a  little  spring  on  the  edge  of 
the  timber-line,  he  saw  two  bear  cubs  feeding  on 
blackberries  and  sat  down  to  watch  them.  Soon 
the  mother  bear  appeared.  Some  noise  in  the 
opposite  direction  had  disturbed  her,   and   she 


136  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

started  to  "shoo''  the  cubs  before  her  toward  the 
doctor,  then  stood  straight  up  on  her  hind  legs 
to  listen,  then  drove  them  ahead  again.  A  bear 
with  her  cubs  is  not  a  pleasant  creature  to  meet^ 
and  when  this  particular  bear  came  within  thirty 
yards  and  again  stood  up  straight,  the  doctor  took 
careful  aim  at  her  heart  and  fired. 

The  bullet  reached  its  mark.  With  one  leap  into 
the  air,  she  fell  dead,  while  the  cubs  scampered 
off  into  the  woods.  It  took  a  good  two  hours  to 
strip  off  her  beautiful  skin.  He  brought  it  in  to 
camp  and  spread  it  out  on  the  ground  to  dry. 
Waking  from  his  nap,  the  doctor's  little  three- 
year-old  boy  Lorrin  rubbed  his  eyes  in  wonder  at 
the  great  skin,  and  then  said,  in  Turkish,  "The 
bear  too,  it  seems,  wears  moccasins." 

Wlien  Lorrin  was  twelve  years  old,  Dr.  Shepard 
gave  him  a  small  shotgun,  and  from  that  time  the 
boy  became  his  father's  companion  on  these  hunt- 
ing-trips. Several  rules  went  with  the  present 
of  the  gun.  "Never  point  at  any  one,  even  when 
the  gun  is  not  loaded;  never  shoot  at  anything 
before  you  are  sure  what  it  is;  never  turn  the 
point  toward  yourself ; ' '  these  were  the  rules  laid 
down. 

One  of  the  first  trips  Lorrin  took  with  his  father 


SUMMER  OUTINGS  AND  HUNTING  TRIPS  13T 

was  among  the  great  cliffs  on  the  landward  side 
of  the  mountain  where  the  ibex  roamed.  The 
cliffs  consisted  of  a  series  of  tilted  strata  of  gran- 
ite, the  broken  ends  of  which  formed  a  series  of 
huge  steps  down  to  the  plain  below.  The  ledges 
across  the  face  of  the  main  cliffs  formed  the 
runways  of  the  ibex,  or  wild  mountain  goats. 
Several  times  the  doctor  had  shot  a  doe  or  a 
young  ibex,  having  to  climb  back  to  camp  up  the 
2000  or  3000  feet  of  cliff,  with  the  animal  on 
his  shoulders ;  but  he  had  never  succeeded  in  get- 
ting a  buck.  On  this  day,  he  set  Lorrin,  with  his 
new  gun,  at  one  of  the  runways,  while  he  went 
down  among  the  cliffs  to  scare  up  the  game.  The 
boy  waited.  No  ibex  came  his  way ;  but,  to  his  hor- 
ror, he  saw,  leisurely  ambling  toward  him,  a  huge 
brown  bear.  He  had  heard  enough  of  his  father  ^s 
adventures  to  know  how  dangerous  it  was  to 
wound  a  bear  without  killing  him;  so  he  gave  a 
terrified  shout  for  his  father,  and  then,  with  a 
sure  instinct,  shot  his  gun  into  the  air.  Startled 
by  the  shot,  the  bear  quickened  his  pace  and  dis- 
appeared around  the  ridge. 

Another  bear  which  the  doctor  shot  had  just 
killed  a  wild  boar,  and,  after  eating  a  part  of 
it  for  his  breakfast,  had  hidden  it  away.     The 


138  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

doctor  caught  the  scent  and,  finding  the  freshly- 
killed  boar,  dressed  it  and  hnng  it  in  a  tree,  cov- 
ering it  with  leaves  to  protect  it  from  flies,  while 
he  returned  to  camp  to  get  a  donkey  to  carry  the 
game  home.  Thus  bruin  unwittingly  furnished 
the  campers  with  wild  boar  for  many  a  day  there- 
after. 

Though  the  doctor  often  went  on  these  still 
hunts  alone,  at  other  times  he  organized  a  hunt- 
ing party  with  some  of  the  villagers.  Jutting 
from  the  side  of  the  mountain  was  a  huge,  purple 
rock,  forming  a  cavelike  shelter  beneath.  Gath- 
ered under  this  rock  at  night,  the  hunters  would 
sit  about  the  camp-fire  and  tell  stirring  tales  of 
their  adventures.  The  famous  hunter  Bedros 
[Peter]  told  how,  up  on  the  bald  top  of  the 
mountain,  purely  by  accident,  he  had  killed  two 
wild  boars  with  one  shot.  Then  Artin  followed, 
with  the  story  of  the  three  leopards  he  had  shot 
at  different  times,  and  showed  the  scars  where 
one  of  them  had  chewed  his  arm  and  shoulder. 
Before  they  wrapped  themselves  in  their  great 
coats,  to  lie  down  for  the  night  beside  the  fire,  the 
doctor  spoke  with  them  about  his  great  Friend 
and  Master;  and  though  there  were  both  Chris- 
tian and  Moslem  among  them,  he  somehow  made 


SUMMER  OUTINGS  AND  HUNTING  TRIPS  139 

them  feel  that  one  God  was  their  Father  and 
that  they  all  were  brethren. 

Once  a  w^eek,  Dr.  Shepard  mounted  his  horse 
in  the  early  morning  and  went  down  to  the  vil- 
lage at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  to  hold  a  clinic. 
From  far  and  near  the  patients  thronged  in,  and 
often  he  would  see  more  than  a  hundred  in  a  day. 
He  made  it  a  rule  never  to  see  any  one  in  his 
camp,  for  if  one  were  treated  there,  others  would 
hear  of  it  and  come,  and  there  would  be  no  more 
rest  for  the  doctor,  weary  with  his  year's  work. 
So  he  kept  no  instruments  or  supplies  in  camp, 
except  those  for  ^' first  aid.''  One  day,  however, 
a  poor  villager  came  with  a  terrible  toothache 
and  begged  the  doctor  to  take  out  the  tooth.  '^1 
have  no  forceps.  Uncle,"  said  Dr.  Shepard.  But 
the  man  still  begged.  Suddenly  a  bright  idea 
struck  the  doctor.  There  was  a  wire-cutter  at 
hand.  It  might  do  the  business.  It  did ;  and  the 
man  went  off,  praising  Allah. 

The  summer's  outing  was  not  enough  to  keep 
Dr.  Shepard  in  good  trim  for  his  taxing  work 
through  all  the  year.  After  a  hard  week  of  work, 
in  clinic  and  operating  room,  he  would  need  to 
get  out  into  the  open.  He  kept  a  pair  of  fine 
hunting-dogs,  and  often,  on  a  Saturday  afternoon, 


140  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

he  would  gallop  off,  with  the  dogs  at  his  heels, 
to  a  lava-bed  some  distance  away,  to  hunt  for 
game-birds  and  hare.  Here  is  his  description  of 
one  such  trip,  written  in  a  letter  to  his  son: 

Your  mother  and  Florence  are  busy  with  prep- 
arations for  Thanksgiving,  it  being  our  turn  to 
furnish  the  entertainment  for  the  Station  this 
year.  That  I  might  have  a  little  share  in  it,  I 
took  my  gun  and  dog  and  started  out  to  get  some 
partridges,  on  Saturday.  I  told  your  mother  as  I 
started  out  that  I  was  going  to  bring  home  a  dozen 
partridges  and  two  hares.  There  are  but  two 
small  coveys  of  partridges  in  all  the  Karatash, 
but  I  had  discovered  some  good  cover,  with  three 
or  four  large  coveys,  two  hours  to  the  east  of  us. 
There  are  some  extensive  cliffs,  a  lava-flow,  vine- 
yards and  fig-orchards  around;  good  feeding- 
ground  and  good  cover,  albeit  a  little  too  far  away. 
It  was  a  beautiful  clear  day,  and  as  I  cantered 
over  the  hills,  old  Noor  Hakk,  [Light  of  Truth] 
with  his  new  winter  suit  of  white  on,  looked  as 
if  one  could  reach  him  in  a  two  or  three  hours' 
ride,  although  nearly  a  hundred  miles  away  as 
the  crow  flies.  A  fine  breeze  blew  straight  from 
his  snow-capped  peaks,  and  made  my  old  Circas- 
sian coat  very  welcome,  but  by  the  time  I  had 
put  up  the  first  covey  of  partridges.  Uncle  Sol 
had  warmed  things  up  so  that  I  was  glad  enough 
to  discard  said  coat.    Leetie  found  the  partridges 


SUMMER  OUTINGS  AND  HUNTING  TRIPS  141 

in  a  fig'-orchard,  and  they  flew  into  the  near-by 
lava-flow,  where  she  was  soon  nosing  them  out 
in  fine  style.  I  missed  more  shots  than  I  some- 
times do,  but  still  did  fairly  well,  and  at  noon 
had  eight  partridges  and  a  hare  in  the  saddlebags. 
The  hare  got  up  under  our  feet,  with  Leetie  so 
close  behind  him  that  I  had  to  give  him  about 
50  yards  leeway  before  I  dared  to  shoot,  for  fear 
of  hitting  the  dog.  Then  a  charge  of  No.  5  shot 
keeled  him  over  very  neatly.  We  ate  lunch  in  the 
lea  of  an  old  cistern,  which  furnished  us  shelter 
and  drink.  Yaghlu  Kiahke  with  raisins,  walnuts, 
and  cheese  tasted  very  good,  after  my  four  hours' 
of  brisk  work,  but  seemed  to  have  a  deleterious 
effect  upon  my  shooting,  for  from  1:30  to  4:30, 
although  Leetie  put  up  plenty  of  birds,  I  got  only 
two  more,  and  went  home  one  hare  and  two  par- 
tridges short  of  my  morning's  boast. 

Fritz  and  Leetie,  the  two  pointers,  were  trained 
as  puppies  by  the  doctor  himself.  This  is  how 
Fritz  got  punished  one  day  for  his  disobedience, 
as  his  master  told  the  tale : 

On  a  trip  with  your  mother,  the  other  day, 
we  ran  across  a  little  kid  that  had  been  left  be- 
hind by  the  flock.  Fritz  took  after  it  and,  de- 
spite my  shouted  commands,  pulled  it  down  and 
proceeded  to  throttle  it.  He  was  about  a  hundred 
yards  away,  down  a  steep  slope.    I  fired  a  charge 


142  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

of  B.  B.  shot  at  him,  and  he  left  the  kid  and  came 
to  me  in  trepidation,  bleeding  freely  from  a  shot- 
hole  in  the  muscles  of  his  back.  Another  shot 
had  struck  him  in  the  ham,  but  did  not  bleed  much. 
I  scolded  and  beat  him  a  bit,  and  he  crawled  into 
a  bush  and  lay  there,  while  we  went  on.  When 
we  got  home  he  was  at  camp  and  very  shame- 
faced indeed.  I  ridiculed  him  a  bit,  and  he  slunk 
off  to  his  bed  and  refused  to  eat  any  supper. 
The  next  morning  he  came  around  and  begged 
to  be  forgiven,  as  plainly  as  a  dog  could,  and, 
after  being  assured  of  my  good-will,  he  became 
as  cheerful  as  ever. 

In  midwinter,  when  he  was  worn  with  his  fall 
work,  and  when  the  surgical  cases  at  the  hospital 
were  fewer  than  at  other  seasons,  with  a  friend  or 
two,  Dr.  Shepard  would  take  a  two  weeks'  trip  to 
some  lakes  at  the  foot  of  the  Taurus  Mountains. 
Here  there  were  thirty  kinds  of  ducks  and  geese 
and  other  game-fowl.  Reeds  and  rushes  grew 
thickly  in  the  lake,  and  just  in  the  center  was  a 
strange  village  built  of  reeds  upon  a  floating 
island.  A  mud  fireplace  in  the  center  furnished 
the  only  heat  for  these  reed  huts,  and  the  smoke 
had  to  escape  through  the  thatched  roof.  The 
villagers  said  they  were  the  remnants  of  some 
ancient  peoples  who  had  been  driven  from  their 


SUMMER  OUTINGS  AND  HUNTING  TRIPS  143 

mountain  homes  by  enemies  and  had  taken  refuge 
on  this  island.  They  were  vassals  of  a  feudal 
lord,  or  AgJia,  in  the  city  of  Marash.  Half  of  all 
the  fish  and  fowl  which  they  caught  had  to  be 
sent  to  him,  while  the  poor  villagers  had  nothing 
to  live  on  but  the  half  left  to  them. 

Pitching  his  tent  on  the  frozen  banks  of  this 
lake,  and  hiring  a  pine  dug-out  from  the  natives, 
the  doctor  spent  his  days  in  hunting  the  water- 
fowl. Morning  and  evening  came  the  flight  called 
far-far,  from  the  sound  made  by  thousands  of 
birds  on  the  wing.  It  was  then  that  the  hunter, 
hidden  in  his  boat  among  the  reeds,  got  in  his 
best  work.  After  a  two  days'  stay,  the  doctor 
was  able  to  send  back  thirty  brace  of  birds,  to 
be  distributed  among  his  friends  in  Aintab. 

Adventures  of  various  kinds  befell  the  campers 
by  the  lake.  The  following  is  the  story  of  one 
such  adventure,  as  told  by  the  doctor  himself: 

One  stormy  day  my  boatman  and  I  heard  cries 
of  distress  and  hastened  toward  them.  They 
seemed  very  near,  but  were  coming  directly  down 
the  wind,  and  in  reality  came  from  fully  two  miles 
away.  When  we  finally  got  out  of  the  marsh, 
to  the  edge  of  the  lake,  we  could  make  out  two 
black  dots  a  half  mile  away  that  we  knew  must  be 


144  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

the  heads  of  the  poor  fellows  in  the  lake.  They 
were  two  Kurds  who  had  tried  to  cross  the  lake 
in  a  water-logged  old  dugout,  with  a  load  of 
wood,  while  there  was  quite  a  little  sea  running. 
Their  craft  had  filled  from  the  lapping  waves  and 
had  gone  down  under  them.  They  were  clinging 
to  some  slender  reeds,  giving  just  enough  support 
to  keep  their  mouths  above  water.  Making  them 
cling  one  to  each  side  of  the  canoe,  we  towed  them 
to  a  near-by  floating  island.  One  of  them  was  able 
to  climb  out,  but  the  other  had  not  strength 
enough.  We  helped  them  into  our  canoe  (which 
was  meant  to  carry  only  two),  and  making  them 
sit  back  to  back  in  the  middle,  I  covered  them 
from  the  cold  wind  with  my  raincoat,  and  we 
paddled  off  as  fast  as  possible  for  the  houses  of 
the  lake-dwellers  on  the  island  in  the  middle  of 
the  lake,  and  soon  had  them  before  a  hot  fire 
and  got  some  hot  soup  down  them.  None  too 
soon,  either,  as  the  weaker  one  was  pulseless  when 
we  got  there. 

After  the  day's  shooting  was  over,  one  and 
another  of  these  crude  village  folk  would  drop 
in  to  share  the  doctor's  brazier  of  charcoal  with 
him  in  his  tent.  Then  the  Servant  of  the  King 
would  draw  Ms  Turkish  Testament  from  his 
pocket  and  read  them  stories  of  his  Master  and 
tell  them  of  the  wondrous  life  lived  by  the  shores 


SUMMER  OUTINGS  AND  HUNTING  TRIPS  145 

of  that  other  lake,  among  the  humble  fisher-folk. 

But  even  in  this  wild  spot,  the  doctor  could  not 
get  away  from  the  throngs  who  besieged  him. 
All  day  Sunday,  and  indeed  nearly  every  day, 
crowds  of  patients  from  surrounding  villages 
came  to  the  tent  by  the  lake.  Sometimes  when 
the  doctor  was  out  until  dark,  hunting,  the  wait- 
ing patients  built  great  bonfires  and  stayed  all 
night,  even  though  the  ice  froze  an  inch  thick  on 
the  lake. 

A  missionary  friend,  who  was  visiting  the  doc- 
tor in  his  tent,  tells  of  the  following  conversation 
which  he  overheard  among  the  Kurdish  patients 
gathered  about  them. 

**Why  did  the  doctor  come  to  Turkey?"  asked 
one.    * '  Aren  't  there  any  sick  people  in  America  ? ' ' 

No  one  answered  for  a  moment  when  one  of  the 
older  men  heaved  a  sigh  and  said,  ^'Praise  be  to 
God,  no  one  is  ever  sick  in  America." 

^^Do  you  think  that  America  has  so  much  better 
climate  and  water  than  you  have  here  in  Turkey, 
that  no  one  ever  gets  sick  there?"  asked  the  mis- 
sionary friend,  knowing  how  proud  the  people 
were  of  their  country. 

This  set  the  group  of  patients  to  guessing  again. 

*^ Don't  you  see  how  rich  these  Americans  are?" 


146  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

said  one.  ^^They  don't  come  here  because  they 
can't  find  anything  to  do  in  America.  They  come 
here  because  they  can  get  bigger  salaries.  Just 
look  at  the  doctor's  fine  horses  and  saddles.  Go 
to  Aintab  and  see  the  American  houses.  God  have 
mercy  on  them,  they  even  sleep  in  separate  rooms 
and  change  their  underclothes  every  few  days." 

"Mashallah/'  [praise  to  God]  added  an  old 
graybeard,  nodding  his  head  slowly,  '^have  you 
seen  how  clean  and  well  dressed  their  children 
are?" 

But  the  Mullah  [religious  leader]  of  the  group 
began  to  scold  them  for  this  idea.  Besides,  he 
had  an  idea  of  his  own  to  advance. 

^ '  You  don 't  understand  religion, ' '  he  said.  * '  Of 
course  the  Americans  are  richer  than  we  are. 
They  work  harder  than  we  do.  If  Dr.  Shepard 
stayed  in  America  and  worked  as  hard  as  he  does 
here,  he  could  g^i  ten  times  as  much  money.  No, 
it  isn't  the  money  he  wants;  he's  trying  to  save 
his  soul." 

'^Oh,  I  see,"  came  a  voice  from  the  doorway, 
*^we  are  doing  him  a  great  favor  in  allowing  him 
to  treat  us.  But  how  about  those  other  Americans 
— those  who  conduct  schools.  How  can  they  ex- 
pect to  save  their  souls?" 


SUMMER  OUTINGS  AND  HUNTING  TRIPS  147 

'^Well/'  said  the  Mullah,  ''God  is  gracious  and 
all- wise;  perhaps  he  will  forgive  them.'' 

At  that  moment  the  young  man  whose  wound 
the  doctor  had  just  examined  broke  in  rather  im- 
petuously, 

''You  fellows  don't  know  what  you  are  talking 
about.  None  of  you  have  had  the  experience  I 
have  had." 

Then  he  went  on  to  tell  how  his  wife  had  been 
treated  for  three  weeks  at  the  hospital  and 
the  things  he  had  heard  there;  and  of  the  Injeel 
[Gospel]  that  had  been  given  him.  "I  couldn't 
read  it,"  he  said,  "but  I  found  a  lame  boy  who 
could.  We  spent  hours  together  with  that  InjeeL 
If  you  want  to  know  the  real  reason  why  Dr. 
Shepard  and  these  other  Americans  came  to  Tur- 
key, you  just  read  that  book ! ' ' 


vin 

A  FRIEND  TO  ALL 

THUS  it  was  that  Shepard  of  Aintab  came  to 
be  known  and  loved  in  the  most  obscure  vil- 
lages of  the  land.  Any  one  who  wore  a  hat  and 
traveled  through  the  mountain  villages  was  called 
Sliippet.  As  two  of  the  ladies  were  traveling  from 
the  coast  to  Aintab,  a  suspicious  police  officer 
stopped  them  in  a  certain  village  and  took  them 
to  the  chief. 

*^  Where  are  you  going  T'  asked  the  man. 

**To  Aintab/'  was  the  response. 

*'0h,''  he  beamed,  '^then  you  are  Shippets!^^ 
and  turning  angrily  to  the  police  officer  he 
stormed,  '^You  fool,  don't  you  know  enough  not 
to  molest  the  Shippet  Khanums  on  their  way!" 

The  following  tale  of  the  power  of  Dr.  Shep- 
ard's  name  is  told  by  one  of  the  graduates  of  the 
college  in  Aintab : 

Mr.  Stephen  Trowbridge  and  I  wanted  to  visit 
Hassan  Beyli  and  other   Armenian  villages  in 

149 


150  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

Giaour  Daghia  and,  as  neither  of  us  knew  the 
roads,  we  went  to  Dr.  Shepard  for  instructions. 
He  drew  up  for  us  a  free-hand  map  of  the  roads, 
and  equipping  us  with  his  guns,  warned  us  to  look 
out  for  Turkish  highwaymen. 

The  journey  was  two  days  on  horseback,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  first  day  we  found  that  we  had 
lost  our  way  in  the  thick  forest  on  a  steep  moun- 
tainside. The  sun  was  goiag  down  fast,  and  there 
was  no  sign  of  life  around.  We  dismounted  and 
walked,  our  horses  following  closely,  when,  about 
two  hundred  yards  ahead,  I  noticed  a  highway- 
man waiting  for  us,  partly  concealed  in  the  thick 
bushes.  We  were  glad  to  see  a  human  being, 
even  though  he  were  a  bandit,  and,  at  the  point 
of  a  gun,  we  forced  him  to  lead  us  to  the  nearest 
village. 

He  led  us  to  a  Turkish  village,  and  we  spent 
the  night  at  the  house  of  the  Agha  [chief].  In  the 
morning,  after  tipping  the  Agha  well,  we  asked 
him  to  give  us  a  guide  to  Hassan  Beyli.  He  was 
only  too  glad  to  give  us,  for  a  guide,  a  famous 
highwayman  who  had  been  terrorizing  that  sec- 
tion of  the  country  for  thirty  years. 

After  an  hour  or  so,  we  found  ourselves  in  a 
very  thick  forest,  and  I  noticed  that  the  man  was 
preparing  for  a  charge.  I  tried  to  be  more  friendly 
with  him,  and  he  thought  he  could  win  me  to  his 
side.  He  told  me  that  he  was  plotting  on  Mr. 
Trowbridge's  life.  Seeing  that  it  was  useless  to 
try  on  that  line,   I  changed  the  topic  of  con- 


A  FRIEND  TO  ALL  161 

versation  and  asked  him  if  he  knew  Dr. 
Shepard. 

He  said  that  he  knew  Dr.  Shepard  very  well 
and  admired  him  very  much,  as  he  came  to  that 
part  of  the  country  every  year  to  hunt  wild  pigs, 
and  that  he  was  the  most  daring  man  he  ever 
knew.  Then  I  said  that  Mr.  Trowbridge  was 
Dr.  Shepard 's  most  intimate  friend  and  that  the 
gun  on  his  shoulder  was  Dr.  Shepard 's  gun.  That 
fact  changed  matters  considerably  in  the  robber's 
mind,  and  when,  in  a  short  time,  we  were  out  of 
the  woods  and  on  the  right  road  again,  this  man 
would  run  ahead  of  us  into  the  village  we  were 
approaching  and  announce  that  Dr.  Shepard 's 
friend  was  coming,  and  we  would  find  mothers 
with  their  sick  children  waiting  for  us. 

We  reached  Hassan  Beyli  safely,  thanks  to  the 
doctor's  gun! 

It  was  not  only  the  doctor's  skill  as  a  physician 
which  won  him  so  many  friends,  but  his  own 
genial  personality.  He  never  made  any  one  feel 
that  he  considered  himself  in  any  way  above  them, 
and  he  entered  as  simply  and  heartily  into  the 
life  of  the  crude  villager  as  of  the  cultured  college 
professor.  He  was  equally  friendly  and  at  ease 
in  the  official's  fine  mansion  and  in  the  peasant's 
goat's-hair  tent. 

Mahmoud  Agha  was  the  chief  of  his  tribe — 


162  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

rough,  hospitable,  and  simple-hearted.  Many 
lands  he  had,  but  with  little  knowledge  or  energy 
to  cultivate  them,  quite  content  with  his  great 
flocks  of  sheep  and  the  horses  he  loved  to  raise. 
Four  stalwart  sons  he  had,  and  many  serving 
men,  besides  daughters — whom  no  one  ever 
counts!  On  every  trip  back  and  forth  from 
Marash,  the  doctor  always  spent  at  least  an  hour 
or  two  with  his  friend,  and  sometimes,  with  Mrs. 
Shepard  or  his  son  Lorrin,  he  spent  a  night  in 
their  hospitable  home, — a  black  goats '-hair  tent 
in  summer,  a  rude  mud-hut  in  winter.  The  best 
in  the  Agha's  little  village  was  theirs,  and  he, 
with  all  his  household,  served  them  like  royal 
guests.  When  the  Agha  came  to  Aintab,  he  would 
stop  at  the  doctor's  house,  and  the  crude  peasant, 
who  ate  with  his  fingers  out  of  the  one  dish  in 
his  black,  goat's-hair  tent,  sat  up  at  the  table  in 
western  style,  a  commanding  and  striking  figure 
in  his  long,  blue,  broadcloth  coat,  and  ate  with  a 
knife  and  fork.  One  day  he  suddenly  expressed 
himself  in  the  following  words : 

**  I'm  very  glad  the  Khanum  scolded  me  on  my 
last  visit  here.  She  told  me  I  was  lazy  and  not 
working  my  farm  as  it  should  be,  and  asked  why 
I  didn't  get   seed  from   America,   and  till  the 


A  FRIEND  TO  ALL  153 

ground,  and  get  a  harvest  that  was  worth  while. 
I  got  to  thinking  about  it,  and  I  decided  she  was 
right — and  I  determined  to  get  to  work.  Mashal- 
lahy  this  year  my  crops  were  wonderful ! ' ' 

Later,  the  doctor  wrote  of  a  visit  to  his  old 
friend's  home  and  he  was  convinced  that  the 
*^ bracing  up"  was  permanent,  for  there  were 
many  indications  of  added  prosperity. 

*^As  I  approached  the  river  ErkeneJc  Chai/' 
Dr.  Shepard  wrote,  '^a  horseman  rose  out  of  the 
sunken  river-bed  and  proved  to  be  my  Kurdish 
friend  Mahmoud  Agha.  He  had  heard  of  my  pass- 
ing to  Marash  and  had  started  out  to  find  me.  So 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  his  company  back  to  his 
tents,  pitched  just  to  the  west  of  his  village. 
Mahmoud  is  becoming  quite  a  farmer.  With  four 
yoke  of  big,  strong  oxen  and  four  plows,  his  sons 
and  a  hired  man  were  breaking  up  the  old  sod 
of  the  centuries.  He  raised  wheat  enough  this 
year  to  pay  off  all  his  debts.  His  eldest  son,  Ali 
Eiza,  is  married  and  has  a  very  pretty  little  girl 
of  two  years'  or  so.  Hassan  is  to  marry  this  fall. 
Mahmoud  is  building  a  home  for  him.  After  a 
hearty  meal  of  thin  bread,  rice  pilav,  fried  eggs, 
yoghourt  and  grapes,  I  rode  along.  Ali  Eiza 
mounted  the  long-legged  white  mare,  a  foal  from 


154  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

my  old  Prince,  and  guided  me  through  the  swamp 
to  the  foot  of  the  mountain/' 

When  the  doctor  was  on  his  furlough  in  Amer- 
ica, in  1911,  Mahmoud  Agha  heard  that  he  had 
been  killed  in  a  railroad  accident.  In  great  dis- 
tress, he  went  to  Mr.  Goodsell,  one  of  the  mission- 
aries in  Marash,  and  asked  if  this  was  true.  How 
his  face  beamed  when  he  was  assured  that  it  was 
a  false  report. 

'^Dr.  Shepard  is  our  dearest  friend  and  great- 
est benefactor, '^  he  said.  *^  Write  and  tell  him  we 
are  anxious  for  him  to  come  back.  May  Allah 
give  long  life  to  him  and  to  all  Americans. ' '  Here 
is  the  letter  to  the  doctor  which  he  dictated  to 
Mr.  Groodsell; 

In  the  winter  we  heard,  much  to  our  sorrow, 
that  something  serious  had  befallen  you,  even  that 
you  had  died,  and  we  were  very  much  troubled. 
The  winter  was  so  severe  that  we  could  not  get 
to  Aintab  to  find  out  whether  this  really  were 
true,  but  finally  we  learned  that  you  were  in  good 
health  again.  I  felt  sure  that  God  would  reveal 
to  me  directly  any  such  terrible  thing,  and,  since 
I  had  had  no  such  revelation,  I  could  not  believe  it. 

I  send  you  many  greetings.  I  and  my  house- 
hold, Hassan,  Ali  Riza,  Kiamil,  Bektash,  Kul- 
deoken,  and  all  the  children  whom  you  know  well. 


A  FRIEND  TO  ALL  155 

I  send  my  greetings  also  to  your  daughters  and 
son  and  to  Mrs.  Shepard.  We  shall  all  be  very 
glad  to  see  you  when  you  return. 

Hassan,  Ali  Eiza,  Kiamil  and  Bektash  were  his 
sons.  Kuldeohen  (which  means  ash  dumper,  the 
common  term  for  a  Moslem  woman)  was  his  wife, 
and  *^all  the  children*'  were  daughters. 

Quite  a  contrast  to  this  rough,  simple-hearted 
Kurd  was  the  doctor's  Turkish  friend  who  was 
lord  of  a  village  in  the  Euphrates  Valley,  near  the 
ruins  of  the  ancient  city  of  Carchemish.  Up-to- 
date  in  every  way,  this  progressive  Turk  would 
appear,  now  and  then,  at  the  hospital  in  his  natty 
white  flannel  outing-suit,  to  introduce  some  patient 
from  his  village,  always  showing  courtesy  and 
respect  to  the  hospital  nurses.  In  the  winter  of 
1913,  Mrs.  Shepard  was  called  to  Oorfa  to  reor- 
ganize industries  for  the  w^omen  there.  On  her 
return  in  the  spring,  the  doctor  met  her  at  Car- 
chemish. After  visiting  the  ruins,  where  the  Eng- 
lish were  making  excavations,  they  spent  a  few 
days  at  the  Turkish  friend's  manor.  He  met 
them  at  the  station  (on  the  Bagdad  railroad)  with 
an  up-to-date  little  phaeton.  His  fine  house  was 
surrounded  by  a  great  garden  containing  fruit 
trees,  vegetables,  and  flowers.     A  conservatory, 


156  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

with  a  pond  and  goldfish  and  a  flock  of  doves, 
added  a  modern  touch. 

One  of  his  two  wives  had  set  the  table  for  dinner 
in  Western  style  and  then  called  Mrs.  Shepard 
aside  to  ask  if  it  were  set  quite  right.  During 
their  stay,  the  older  wife  went  into  the  kitchen 
to  direct  the  servants,  and  Mrs.  Shepard  taught 
her  how  to  make  doughnuts,  pancakes,  and  brown 
bread;  while  she,  in  turn,  had  a  lesson  in  the 
finest  Turkish  cooking.  Meanwhile,  the  doctor 
and  the  Agha  went  off  with  their  dogs  to  hunt 
partridges  in  the  hills.  Many  of  the  vassals  in 
the  village  of  this  lord  had  never  before  even  seen 
a  foreigner.  But  the  Agha  was  trying  to  edu- 
cate these  ignorant  peasants  and  had  secured  a 
Hodja  [teacher]  from  Aleppo  and  started  a  vil- 
lage school.  When  his  guests  were  ready  to  leave 
for  Aintab,  he  loaned  the  Khanum  his  pacing 
mare,  with  her  easy  gait,  in  order  to  make  the 
journey  more  comfortable. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Shepard  were  keenly  interested 
in  the  life  of  the  people  in  every  detail.  They 
were  always  encouraging  them  to  make  the  best 
use  of  the  resources  of  their  country.  Finding 
traces  of  a  coal  deposit  in  one  of  the  mountains 
in  the  Kurd  Eange,  the  doctor  pointed  it  out  to 


I.     DR.    SHEPARD    WRITING    A    PRESCRIPTION    FOR    KURDISH    PATIENTS 


II.     A  KURDISH  FAMILY  AND  THEIR   HOME 


'i^ 


A  FRIEND  TO  ALL  157 

a  villager  and  asked  him  why,  when  heat  was  so 
often  needed,  they  did  not  mine  it. 

^^ If  Allah  had  meant  us  to  use  it,"  replied  the 
man  with  a  shrug,  *^he  would  have  put  it  on  the 
surface,  so  we  could  get  it  easily." 

A  good  example  of  the  way  in  which  the  doctor 
and  his  wife  were  able  to  help  a  whole  com- 
munity in  their  upward  struggle  was  the  little 
village  of  Eybez,  at  the  foot  of  the  Giaour  Dagh 
[Mountain  of  the  Infidels]  where  they  had  their 
mountain  camp.  Here  Dr.  Shepard  was  indeed  a 
friend  to  all.  Not  only  did  he  help  the  people 
as  a  doctor,  in  the  weekly  clinics  he  held  there 
through  the  summer,  but  he  took  a  lively  interest 
in  their  farming,  in  their  business,  in  their  schools 
and  churches,  in  the  friendly  relations  between 
Moslem,  and  Christian,  and  in  their  dealings  with 
the  government.  In  the  next  valley  beyond  the 
village  stood  a  French  Trappist  monastery.  Here, 
too.  Dr.  Shepard  made  many  warm  friends,  and 
it  was  through  them  that  he  got  the  lumber  for 
his  new  hospital-building.  After  an  absence  of 
some  time  from  this  village,  which  the  doctor  had 
in  a  sense  adopted  as  his  own,  he  made  a  little 
visit  there  and  wrote  back  to  his  wife  of  its 
material  and  educational  progress: 


158  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

I  found  the  Eybez  friends  all  well  and  de- 
lighted to  see  me.  I  was  the  guest  of  Havounj 
Oghloo  [Son  of  the  Carrot]  tribe,  as  usual. 
Eybez  has  grown  a  good  bit  since  you  saw  it  last, 
with  perhaps  fifty  shops  in  its  little  market.  The 
former  good  feeling  existing  between  the  Moslem 
and  Christian  part  of  the  population  continues. 
The  Protestant  community  has  built  a  neat  and 
commodious  parsonage  and  enclosed  the  premises 
in  a  good  stone  wall.  They  have  three  teachers 
in  their  school  and  have  purchased  a  plot  of  land 
for  their  new  school-building.  They  have  two 
evangelists  in  the  field  and  three  boys  in  college 
at  Aintab,  this  year,  and  are  progressing  finely 
in  all  ways. 

During  his  thirty-three  years  of  service  in  the 
Turkish  Empire,  Dr.  Shepard  had  much  to  do 
with  Turkish  officials.  He  was  a  keen  judge  of 
men,  and,  while  he  always  saw  the  best  in  a  man, 
he  was  never  hoodwinked  by  the  smooth  talk  of 
officials.  Not  only  as  a  physician  did  he  come 
in  touch  with  them,  but  in  many  other  ways,  as 
in  obtaining  government  permits  for  travel,  for 
building,  for  sanitary  measures  in  the  city,  or 
for  distribution  of  relief.  Often  he  would  go  to 
some  man  in  power  whom  he  had  won  to  a  per- 
sonal friendship  and  use  his  influence  to  secure 


A  FRIEND  TO  ALL  159 

the  release  from  prison  of  some  Christian  friend 
or  servant  unjustly  arrested.  Several  times  he 
secured  the  punislmient  of  some  notorious  evil- 
doer, and  once  or  twice,  when  a  massacre  of  Chris- 
tians threatened  the  city,  an  appeal  from  the 
doctor  to  the  governor  of  the  province  saved  the 
day. 

From  his  busy  life  Dr.  Shepard  snatched  time 
to  cultivate  these  friendships.  On  Bairam,  the 
great  Moslem  feast  day,  when  the  cannon  was 
fired,  announcing  that  the  NamaZj  or  morning 
prayers,  were  over  and  that  the  governor  was 
ready  to  receive,  the  doctor  would  start  out  on  his 
round  of  calls  on  the  city  officials. 

At  the  time  of  the  ^'Bloodless  Kevolution, ' '  in 
1908,  when  representatives  of  the  Young  Turk 
party  were  *^  stumping  the  country '^  for  their 
cause,  they  were  given  a  dinner  in  Aintab.  The 
doctor  thus  described  the  occasion : 

Last  Tuesday  evening,  I  was  one  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  people,  three  quarters  of  them 
Moslems  and  one-fourth  Christians,  to  sit  together 
at  a  banquet  given  by  the  mayor  of  the  city  to 
a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Union  and  Prog- 
ress, as  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Young 
Turk  party  is  called.     The  governor,  the  mili- 


160  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

tary  commander,  the  beys,  and  all  the  most  prom- 
inent men  of  the  city  were  present.  After  dinner 
there  were  speeches  by  the  guest  of  the  evening, 
by  Profssor  Bezjian,  Dr.  Shepard,  Michael  An- 
taki,  the  Armenian  Catholic  Vartabed,  and  by  a 
Young  Turk  of  the  city.  The  utmost  freedom  of 
speech  was  used,  and  the  spirit  of  tolerance,  yes, 
even  of  brotherhood,  prevailed. 

It  was  the  doctor's  constant  endeavor  to  get 
representatives  of  the  different  nationalities  and 
communities  to  cooperate  in  some  enterprise  for 
relief  or  civic  betterment.  The  Christians  were 
ready  to  do  their  part,  but  it  was  diiBScult  to  in- 
duce the  Moslems  to  take  an  active  interest.  Sev- 
eral times,  however,  they  gave  substantial  dona- 
tions for  the  work  of  the  hospital.  Once  a  Swiss 
philanthropist  sent  a  special  fund  for  the  relief 
of  poor  Moslems.  The  Turks  were  so  touched 
by  this  gift  from  a  foreigner  that  they  made  a 
large  addition  to  the  fund.  The  Christians,  too, 
had  raised  a  fund  for  similar  purposes,  and  a  co- 
operative committee  was  formed  of  both  creeds, 
to  distribute  to  the  poor  of  all  alike. 

So  it  was  that,  as  the  doctor  gained  many 
friends  among  the  Moslems,  more  and  more,  as  the 
years  went  on,  he  tried  to  win  them,  by  word  and 


A  FRIEND  TO  ALL  161 


deed,  to  a  knowledge  of  the  Master  he  served.  He 
himself  took  every  chance  that  offered, — in  the 
hospital  ward,  in  a  social  call,  or  even  about  the 
campfire, — to  tell  of  the  Great  Physician.  But, 
more  than  this,  he  brought  his  Christian  friends 
to  realize  that  they  too  must  do  the  same.  Trav- 
eling one  day  through  the  Kurdish  Mountains 
with  an  Armenian  friend,  he  rode  by  a  beautiful 
little  Turkish  village,  with  its  green  gardens  set 
like  an  emerald  in  the  hollow  of  a  hill. 

^' Isn't  it  a  shame,''  said  the  young  man,  ^'that 
God  should  have  given  over  this  beautiful  country 
to  these  Moslem  dogs !" 

^' Don't  you  think,"  replied  the  doctor  gently, 
*'that  when  God  has  been  so  good  to  them,  we 
should  show  them  a  little  more  consideration?" 

The  doctor's  great  longing  was  that  he  might 
have  a  young  associate  from  America  to  help  in 
the  hospital  work,  so  that  he  might  be  free  to  go 
out  among  his  thousands  of  Moslem  friends  in 
the  villages  of  the  region  and  set  before  them,  by 
life  and  word,  the  good  news  of  Jesus.  Miss 
Trowbridge,  who,  as  nurse  in  the  hospital  for 
many  years,  had  gained  the  good  will  of  hundreds 
of  patients  from  surrounding  places,  gave  much 
time  in  later  years  to  visiting  them  in  their  village 


162  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

homes!  Sometimes  Dr.  Hamilton  accompanied 
her  and  always  they  were  received  with  open 
hearts.  In  1914  Dr.  Shepard  planned  with  the 
Protestant  churches  of  the  city  to  start  a  reading- 
room  and  social  center  for  Moslem  young  men, 
but  the  outbreak  of  the  war  put  an  end  to  this 
project. 

It  took  all  the  doctor 's  tact  and  faith  and  cour- 
age to  carry  on  this  work,  for  it  meant  death  for 
a  Moslem  to  become  a  Christian.  There  were, 
nevertheless,  two  men  in  the  city  who  longed  to 
know  the  truth,  and  came  to  the  doctor  and  his 
missionary  friends.  Then  others  felt  the  same 
desire  and,  night  after  night,  a  meeting  was  held 
to  read  the  Injeel  [gospel]  in  the  house  of  some 
member  of  these  seekers  after  truth.  Often  on  a 
Sunday  afternoon  (the  only  time  the  doctor  was 
at  home)  they  would  call  to  talk  about  the  subject 
they  had  grown  to  love  best.  The  following  story 
is  told  by  one  of  Dr.  Shepard 's  Armenian  friends. 

Once,  when  a  Moslem  Hodja  [teacher]  was 
talking  to  a  large  audience  about  Christianity, 
and  criticizing  unjustly  both  the  religion  and  its 
believers,  a  Moslem  Kurd,  coming  forward  from 
the  audience,  told  the  Hodja  that  he  did  not  agree 
with  him  on  the  subject.    The  Hodja  became  furl- 


A  FRIEND  TO  ALL  163 

ously  angry  and  said  to  the  Kurd,  **Who  are  you, 
anyway?     What  is  your  religion T' 

After  a  few  minutes'  meditation,  the  Kurd  asked 
him  if  he  knew  Dr.  Shepard  of  the  Aintab  City 
Hospital,  and  the  Hodja  answered,  ^^Yes,  I  know 
him  very  well.    What  about  itf 

The  Kurd  replied,  ^'Whatever  it  is,  Dr.  Shep- 
ard's  religion  is  my  religion.'' 


IX 

ALL  THINGS  TO  ALL  MEN 

**T  THINK  I  can  honestly  say,  with  old  Dr. 
^  Post  of  Beirut,  that  the  two  things  that  I 
love  best  in  this  life  are  a  surgical  operation  and 
a  prayer-meeting.'' 

Thus  wrote  Dr.  Shepard  in  a  letter  to  a  friend. 
The  doctor  was  not  only  a  great  physician,  he 
was  more — he  was  a  missionary  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  word.  There  was  no  part  of  the  work, 
whether  of  education  in  the  college,  of  preaching 
in  the  churches,  of  social  uplift  in  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  or  of  relief  in  the 
orphanage,  in  which  the  doctor  did  not  have  an 
active  share. 

The  first  summons  to  the  young  recruit  had 
come  as  a  call  to  a  professorship  in  the  medical 
department  of  the  college.  Although  that  enter- 
prise had  to  be  given  up,  still  the  relation  was 
never  severed.  The  doctor  took  as  active  an  in- 
terest in  the  growth  of  the  college  as  in  that  of 

165 


166  SHEPAKD  OF  AINTAB 

the  hospital.  He  was  always  a  member  of  its 
Board  of  Managers.  When  the  college  ran  into 
debt,  it  was  the  doctor's  hard-won  earnings  which 
helped  to  pay  off  that  debt.  When  the  college 
was  without  a  president,  it  was  the  doctor  who 
stepped  in  and  filled  the  gap.  When  the  college 
needed  a  new  library-building,  it  was  the  doctor's 
sister-in-law,  Miss  Andrews,  who  furnished  the 
funds,  and  it  was  the  doctor  who  helped  to  plan 
the  building.  When  the  college  needed  a  new 
water  supply,  the  doctor  worked  with  Mr.  San- 
ders, the  touring  missionary,  to  dig  an  artesian 
well.  This  was  just  before  the  massacres  of  1895, 
when  all  kinds  of  suspicions  and  rumors  were 
abroad. 

*^What  were  those  Americans  digging  a  deep 
hole  for?  Surely  they  were  planning  to  dig  it 
through  to  America  and  then  march  troops  in  to 
help  the  Armenians!'^ 

No  one  could  beat  the  Aintahli  [resident  of 
Aintab]  when  it  came  to  making  up  such  stories. 
The  people  themselves  said  that  Aintab  was  fa- 
mous for  its  grape-sweets  and  its  lies.  A  na- 
tive tradition  accounts  for  this  extra  share  of 
lies.  The  devil,  it  is  declared,  was  wandering 
over  the  face  of  the  earth  with  his  big  bag  of 


ALL  THINGS  TO  ALL  MEN  167 

lies  upon  his  back,  distributing  them  as  evenly 
as  he  could.  Presently,  he  stubbed  his  toe  and  fell 
down,  spilling  the  bagful  out  upon  the  ground. 
In  great  haste  he  scrambled  the  lies  into  the  bag 
again,  but  many  escaped  him.  The  spot  he  tum- 
bled on  was  the  city  of  Aintab!  It  might  be 
added,  from  the  Occidental  point  of  view,  that 
a  goodly  share  was  still  left  in  the  bag  for  other 
parts  of  the  Turkish  Empire. 

The  artesian  well  had  to  be  dug  by  horse-power. 
After  the  drills  were  down  several  hundred  feet, 
they  stuck  in  the  limestone.  Horse-power  was  not 
enough  to  pull  them  out  again,  and  to  this  day 
the  well  still  awaits  a  steam-engine  for  its  com- 
pletion. 

The  doctor  showed  a  lively  interest  in  college 
athletics,  sometimes  taking  a  hand  in  basket-ball, 
tennis,  or  other  sports.  Though  he  learned  to 
play  tennis  after  he  was  forty  years  old,  he  kept 
many  a  spry  young  fellow  hustling  to  hold  his 
own ;  the  length  of  his  arms  and  his  agility  made 
up  for  what  he  lacked  in  height,  and  the  boys 
would  gather  about  the  court  to  watch  the  springs 
and  back-somersaults  which  sometimes  helped  to 
win  a  lively  game. 

Often  the  doctor  was  called  upon  to  give  the 


168  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

scientific  lecture  on  some  program,  to  lead  a  meet- 
ing of  ttie  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
or  to  give  a  toast  at  some  college  celebration ;  for 
the  boys  enjoyed  his  wit  and  humor  as  much  as 
did  his  American  friends. 

Just  as,  with  his  devotion  to  his  profession,  the 
doctor  was  constantly  and  steadily  growing  with 
its  growth,  so,  with  his  devotion  to  his  Master, 
the  missionary  was  growing  in  his  own  spirit- 
ual life  and  in  his  power  to  reach  others.  More 
and  more,  as  the  years  went  by,  was  he  drawn 
into  distinctly  missionary  activities.  As  truly  as 
the  students  enjoyed  his  wit,  humor,  and  genial 
fellowship,  just  so  truly  did  they  appreciate  the 
religious  talks  he  gave  them,  for  they  were  rich 
in  inspiration  and  suggestion. 

The  following  is  his  own  outline  of  one  such 
talk,  called  ^^ First  Things  First.''  It  is  taken 
from  the  texts,  Matthew  VI.  25-33  and  Romans 
XIV,  17-18. 

Dr.  Shepard  began  with  the  illustration  of  a 
poor  lunatic  whom  the  students  had  all  seen  wan- 
dering about  the  streets  of  Aintab,  playing  with 
bits  of  wood  held  in  his  fingers.  With  his  whole 
attention  constantly  focused  on  these  chips,  this 


ALL  THINGS  TO  ALL  MEN  169 

man  was  to  all  an  object  of  pity  and  contempt. 
Then  the  doctor  went  on  to  say, 

'*I  imagine  God  looks  with  something  of  the 
same  pity  and  contempt  upon  that  man  who  is  so 
engrossed  in  the  pursuit  of  wealth,  or  honor,  or 
pleasure,  that  he  has  forgotten  God. 

^*Mark  Hopkins'  definition  of  religion  is,  ^A 
mode  of  life  based  upon  man's  relation  to  God.' 
Not  a  mode  of  belief,  or  of  thought,  or  of  worship, 
but  a  mode  of  life.  Is  your  mode  of  life  based  on 
your  relation  to  God!  What  is  your  relation  to 
God?  Are  you  a  loving  son,  seeking  to  do  his 
will?  Are  you  an  unwilling  slave,  serving  him 
through  fear!  Are  you  a  rebel,  refusing  your 
lawful  duty?  Youth  often  makes  the  mistake  of 
living  in  the  future,  forgetting  that  we  live  only 
in  the  present,  and  that  the  future  is  conditioned 
on  the  past.  To-day !  This  hour !  It  is  the  only 
time  that  is  really  ours.  Are  we  living  for  right- 
eousness?   Are  we  putting  first  things  first?" 

Dr.  Shepard  was  always  the  college  physician, 
and  often  he  would  hold  a  little  clinic  of  the 
students  before  breakfast,  at  his  home  on  the 
college  campus,  or  make  a  visit  to  the  dormitory 
before  he  jumped  on  his  horse  to  be  off  for  the 
day's  work  at  the  hospital  and  in  the  city. 


170  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

One  day,  as  lie  was  about  to  start  for  his  after- 
noon's work,  an  excited  group  of  boys  rushed 
down  to  his  house. 

^*0h,  Doctor  Effendi/'  gasped  the  one  who 
reached  him  first,  ^'Vartan  has  taken  poison  and 
is  dying.    Do  come  quick!'' 

Hastening  to  the  dormitory,  the  doctor  found 
the  boy  had  taken  a  huge  dose  of  opium.  Nothing 
that  he  could  do  had  any  effect,  and  he  knew  the 
boy  was  sinking  fast.  It  would  be  only  a  matter 
of  minutes,  now,  before  he  would  be  beyond  help. 

**It  is  oxygen  he  needs,"  the  doctor  said,  *4f 
we  only  had  some  oxygen!  Go  quickly  and  get 
Professor  Bezjian,"  he  ordered,  turning  to  one 
of  the  anxious  boys.  In  a  few  moments  the  pro- 
fessor of  physics  appeared.  '  ^  I  need  some  oxygen, 
Professor,"  said  the  doctor;  ^^can  you  generate 
some  for  me  in  short  order?" 

^^I'll  do  my  best,"  was  the  reply.  Before  many 
more  minutes  the  boy  was  taking  the  oxygen,  and 
the  ebbing  life  came  flowing  back. 

In  the  years  to  come.  Professor  Bezjian  became 
one  of  Dr.  Shepard's  closest  friends.  A  graduate 
of  Yale  University,  an  eager  scientist,  a  keen 
thinker,  a  delightful  humorist,  he  was  a  leader  in 
his  community  in  all  things  intellectual.    Broad- 


ALL  THINGS  TO  ALL  MEN  171 

minded  and  tolerant  in  his  religious  ideals,  he 
did  much  to  draw  Christian  communities  of  differ- 
ent creeds  into  closer  fellowship. 

Another  close  friend  among  the  college  profes- 
sors was  Professor  Levonian,  one  of  the  Chris- 
tian martyrs  of  the  Adana  massacre.  With  his 
deeply  spiritual  nature  and  Christlike  spirit,  this 
friend  worked  with  the  doctor  for  the  deeper 
spiritual  life  of  the  students  and  churches,  and 
planned  with  him  for  the  winning  of  the  Moslems 
to  a  knowledge  of  their  common  Lord  and  Master. 

From  the  first,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Shepard  took  an 
active  part  in  the  work  of  the  evangelical  churches 
of  Aintab.  Before  the  missionaries  ever  came  to 
Turkey,  the  Armenians  had  a  Christian  church 
of  their  own  called  the  Gregorian  church  from  the 
name  of  its  founder,  St.  Gregory ;  but  the  services 
of  the  church  were  in  Ancient  Armenian.  This  is, 
to  Modem  Armenian,  what  the  Anglo-Saxon  of 
Chaucer  is  to  our  own  English.  The  people  could 
not  understand  it.  Though  they  were  so  loyal 
to  their  faith  as  to  be  willing  to  die  for  it,  yet 
too  often  it  meant  very  little  to  them  in  their 
lives. 

They  had  no  Sunday-school  and  no  prayer 
meetings,  and  few  could  read  or  understand  the 


172  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

Bible.  When  some  of  these  people  began  to  learn 
from  the  missionaries,  the  priests  excommunicated 
them  from  the  church.  Thus  they  were  forced 
to  found  a  new  church  of  their  own  and  they 
called  it  the  Evangelical  Church.  As,  in  the 
course  of  years,  the  number  of  these  converts 
grew,  they  built  three  Evangelical  Churches  in 
the  city  of  Aintab.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Shepard  joined 
one  of  these  churches  by  letter  from  their  own 
church  in  America. 

Mrs.  Shepard  was  particularly  interested  in 
Sunday-school  work.  Not  only  did  she  help  in  the 
church  Sunday-schools,  she  formed  classes  for 
street  urchins  in  different  parts  of  the  city.  A 
college  student  who  had  consented  to  teach  one 
of  these  classes  walked  through  the  streets,  carry- 
ing a  Sunday-school  picture-roll.  The  children, 
many  of  whom  had  never  seen  a  picture  in  their 
lives,  crowded  about  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  new 
wonder.  Then  the  teacher  lead  them  into  a  room, 
and,  hanging  the  picture  on  the  wall,  he  told 
them  its  story.  Pictures  were  such  an  attraction 
that  they  were  given  out  as  rewards  of  merit,  and 
Mrs.  Shepard  distributed  small  Sunday-school  pic- 
ture-cards, sent  from  America,  to  thirty  village 
Sunday-schools. 


ALL  THINGS  TO  ALL  MEN  173 

Mrs.  Shepard  did  much,  also,  to  bring  about 
a  better  feeling  between  the  old  church  (which 
was  called  the  Mother  Church)  and  the  new.  She 
often  attended  the  services  of  the  Gregorian 
Church  and  made  friends  with  its  priests  and  its 
people.  One  of  her  most  successful  Sunday- 
schools  was  started  in  this  church  after  the  mas- 
sacres of  1895,  when  all  Christians  were  drawn 
together  by  their  common  calamity.  Getting  some 
of  the  young  people  interested  as  teachers,  she 
issued  a  call  for  the  children  to  come  to  the  old 
church  on  a  certain  Sunday.  She  did  not  expect 
more  than  a  few  to  respond,  but  when  she  reached 
the  church,  there  were  the  children — children  in 
the  church ;  children  in  the  gallery ;  children  about 
the  doors  and  in  the  yard ;  children  on  the  flat  roof, 
peering  down  through  the  windows  of  the  dome. 
Fifteen  hundred  strong  they  were,  and  new  teach- 
ers had  to  be  found  to  take  charge  of  the  large 
classes. 

As  the  doctor's  own  religious  life  grew  richer 
and  deeper,  year  by  year,  more  and  more  did  the 
'4ife  more  abundant''  become  in  him  a  well  of 
water  flowing  out  to  others.  Though  Sunday 
afternoon  was  the  only  time  he  had  a  few  hours 
to  himself,  he  always  attended  church  service  with 


174  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

his  family.  One  evening  of  the  busy  week  was 
given  to  church  prayer-meeting,  and  often,  after 
a  heavy  day's  work,  he  would  meet,  far  into  the 
night,  with  the  church  committee,  in  order  to  plan 
for  a  building  fund,  a  new  evangelist,  or  some 
form  of  relief.  He  believed  in  putting  responsi- 
bility on  the  natives  and  always  worked  shoulder 
to  shoulder  with  these  *^  Armenian  brethren, '^  as 
he  always  called  them. 

So  many  sudden  professional  calls  came,  that 
his  stethoscope  always  decorated  the  pocket  of 
even  his  Sunday  suit,  and  while,  as  deacon  in 
the  church,  he  was  ministering  to  the  spiritual 
needs  of  his  Christian  brethren  in  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  sign  of  his  constant 
ministry  to  their  physical  needs  protruded  from 
his  pocket.  The  Armenian  pastor  of  the  church 
gave  expression  to  this  touching  fact  of  his  two- 
fold service  in  the  following  words : 

The  hands  which  skilfully  exercised  the  sur- 
geon's knife  in  the  operating-room  of  the  hos- 
pital, lovingly  offered  the  sacred  elements  of  the 
Holy  Supper  to  hundreds,  and  the  church  was 
spiritually  richer  by  reason  of  his  influence. 

In  writing  of  one  of  the  church  meetings,  the 
doctor  said: 


ALL  THINGS  TO  ALL  MEN  175 

Last  Sunday,  Pastor  Topalian  gave  a  report 
of  the  missionary  activity  of  the  Second  Church 
for  the  past  year,  and  set  forth  the  need  of  the 
pastor-less  churches  and  communities  in  this 
region.  After  church,  the  missionary  committee 
met  and  decided  to  send  out  at  once  two  Bible 
women  and  two  evangelists,  on  salary,  and  also 
arranged  for  voluntary  evangelists  to  go  out  by 
twos,  at  their  own  expense,  on  tours  to  various 
needy  regions.  They  went  down  into  their  pockets 
and  subscribed  for  the  next  six  months  one  third 
more  than  they  gave  last  year,  and  they  gave 
liberally  last  year,  and  this  notwithstanding  the 
crying  need  here  at  home.  What  church  in  Amer- 
ica, with  one  fourth  its  whole  membership  on  the 
relief-roll,  would  support  five  paid  evangelists 
and  send  out  a  score  of  voluntary  ones  besides? 

Besides  the  evangelists  sent  out  into  their  own 
districts,  the  members  of  this  church,  one  fourth 
of  whom  had  to  be  given  relief,  undertook  the 
support  of  a  native  evangelist  in  China.  During 
the  thirty  years  of  Dr.  Shepard's  connection  with 
these  native  churches,  three  revivals  took  place, 
and  the  results  were  evident  by  the  addition  of 
many  new  members. 

*^What  kind  of  Christians  do  the  Armenians 
makeT^  the  doctor  was  once  asked,  when  he  was 
on  furlough  in  America. 


176  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

^'A  little  better,  on  the  whole,  than  the  ones 
in  America,^'  was  the  quick  reply. 

Perhaps  no  one  loved  the  doctor  more  than  the 
little  boys  and  girls  in  the  orphanage.  They  were 
almost  glad  when  one  of  their  number  was  sick, 
so  that  they  might  see  the  doctor  come  riding 
up  the  hill  on  his  fine  horse,  and  catch  his  hearty 
laugh  as  he  entered  the  yard,  with  some  merry 
joke  for  the  youngsters  who  ran  to  open  the  gate. 
And  the  little  patients  felt  better  as  soon  as  they 
felt  the  doctor's  tender  touch  and  heard  his  gentle 
voice.  Many  a  little  prayer  went  up  in  the  chil- 
dren's evening  service  for  the  dear  doctor  and  his. 
hospital.  One  of  the  things  the  orphans  were 
taught  was  the  making  of  Turkish  rugs.  When 
they  had  finished  a  very  large  and  beautiful  one 
they  had  been  working  on  a  long  time,  they  begged 
that  they  might  give  it  to  their  dear  doctor. 

^ '  I  thank  you  for  the  gift,  with  the  love  that 
lies  behind  it,''  said  the  doctor,  **but  don't  you 
think  it  would  be  nice  for  me  to  send  it  to  London 
to  be  sold,  and  then  use  the  money  for  a  children's 
ward  in  the  hospital?" 

What  jolly  times  the  doctor's  own  children  had 
with  him  during  the  few  hours  he  was  at  home. 
When   they   were    small,   there   were   delightful 


ALL  THINGS  TO  ALL  MEN  177 

evenings  when  they  rode  on  the  back  of  papa- 
bear  or  papa-elephant  in  the  jungle  of  chairs  and 
tables ;  then  came  a  rough-and-tumble  romp  until 
they  were  sent  scampering  off  to  bed.  There 
were  stories  before  the  open  fire  in  the  Franklin 
stove  and  the  fifteen-minute  game  of  tiddle-de- 
winks.  As  they  grew  older,  there  was  a  half  hour 
of  reading  from  some  favorite  book,  or  an  experi- 
ment in  physics  with  apparatus  borrowed  from 
the  college  laboratory. 

And  then  the  rare  holidays.  Often,  on  Thanks- 
giving or  Christmas,  papa  was  away  on  some  wild 
winter  ride  to  a  patient,  but  when  he  was  at  home, 
there  was  the  big  dinner  with  all  the  American 
grown-ups. 

But  first  came  the  prayer-meeting  in  the  parlor, 
where  everybody  told  what  they  were  thankful 
for;  then,  when  one  just  couldn't  wait  a  minute 
longer,  the  last  hymn  was  sung  and  they  went 
down  to  the  long,  white  table,  decorated  with 
red  and  brown  grape-leaves,  and  covered  w^ith 
American  goodies,  even  to  yellow  butter  and  real 
mince-pie.  Papa's  end  of  the  table  was  always 
the  jolliest ;  and  afterwards,  when  they  all  played 
stage-coach,  he  it  was  who  always  told  the  live- 
liest yarn.    Best  of  all  were  those  glorious  days 


178  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

in  camp  in  the  Amanus  Mountains.  When,  one 
by  one,  the  children  had  to  go  to  school  in  Amer- 
ica, there  were  wonderful  letters  that  told  of  dear, 
familiar  things  in  the  distant  home. 

Perhaps  the  separation  from  his  sixteen-year- 
old  son,  in  1906,  was  the  hardest  thing  the  brave 
doctor  had  ever  faced.  Lorrin  had  become  his 
close  companion  in  all  his  outdoor  sports  and  in 
all  his  hours  at  home.  With  what  keen  hopes 
did  the  doctor  watch  the  development  of  the  lad 
who  already  bore  the  stamp  of  his  father's  per- 
sonality, and  who  had  decided  to  follow  in  his 
steps.  Two  years  after  his  son  left  home  to  be 
educated  in  the  United  States,  the  doctor  wrote 
him  a  New  Year's  letter.  After  outlining  the 
course  of  study  his  son  would  need  to  take  in 
preparation  for  his  chosen  work,  the  father  went 
on  to  say: 

You  will  then  be  twenty-seven  years  of  age, 
the  age  I  was  when  I  went  to  Turkey,  but  you  will 
have  had  a  much  better  training  than  I  had,  and 
will,  by  the  grace  of  God,  be  a  larger  and  better 
man  in  every  way  than  your  father.  In  looking 
forward  eagerly  to  the  future,  do  not  forget  that 
to-day  is  just  as  important  as  any  day  in  the  fu- 
ture is  likely  to  be.    Make  the  most  of  each  day 


ALL  THINGS  TO  ALL  MEN  179 

as  it  comes.  Do  the  very  best  that  is  in  you  each 
day,  be  it  at  work  or  play,  and  the  future  will  take 
care  of  itself.  He  who  wins  to-day's  battle  need 
not  fear  for  that  of  to-morrow.  And  that  word 
^^fear.'^  Cast  it  out!  Give  it  no  place  in  your 
scheme  of  things.  Fear  nothing  but  God,  and 
fear  not  him  with  any  slavish  fear.  He  is  your 
loving  Father.  Hate  sin  and  shun  it,  but  fear  it 
not,  for  the  Lord  Jesus  has  overcome  it  for  you, 
and  is  able  to  keep  you  from  sin.  Believe  that 
whatever  man  has  done,  you  too  can  do.  Expect 
great  things,  attempt  great  things,  and,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  you  will  do  great  things^. 

How  I  should  love  to  be  a  boy  again!  To 
again  experience  the  pleasure  and  the  pain  of  the 
struggle  into  manhood.  God  be  with  you  and 
bless  you  and  strengthen  you  in  it  all.  My  powers 
are  waning  and  the  best  of  my  life-work  is  done, 
but  it  is  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  see  my  children 
growing  up,  with  a  good  prospect  of  carrying  on 
the  work  to  a  higher  plane  of  usefulness. 

A  few  weeks  after  Lorrin  graduated  from  High 
School,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Shepard  came  to  America 
for  their  third  furlough.  There  was  a  glorious 
family  reunion  that  summer,  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  George.  There  was  a  wedding,  too,  for  the 
younger  daughter,  who  had  just  finished  college, 
married  the  Rev.  Ernest  W.  Riggs,  the  newly-ap- 


180  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

pointed  President  of  Euphrates  College  in  Har- 
poot,  not  far  from  the  black  city  of  Diarbekir. 
Later,  she  sailed  with  him  to  a  new  home  in  Tur- 
key. In  the  fall,  Lorrin  entered  Yale  University, 
and  after  the  parents'  furlough,  the  older  daugh- 
ter, Florence,  went  back  with  them  to  their  home 
in  Aintab. 

Like  a  big  family,  too,  was  the  little  group  of 
Americans  among  whom  Dr.  Shepard  was  now 
the  senior  missionary.  More  and  more,  as  his 
experience  added  new  weight  to  his  naturally 
sound  judgment,  they  turned  to  him  for  advice 
in  every  line  of  work.  Yet,  with  all  the  added 
responsibility  this  brought  upon  him,  he  was  al- 
ways ready  to  join  in  the  frolics  of  the  young 
folk,  where  he  was  the  life  of  the  party,  whether 
it  were  in  chess,  tennis,  horseback  rides,  or  pic- 
nics. 

The  doctor  always  called  his  missionary  asso- 
ciates ** brother.''  Once  a  week  the  little  group 
of  missionaries  gathered  for  station  prayer-meet- 
ing. At  the  first  meeting  which  one  of  the  young 
recruits,  a  recent  arrival  in  Aintab,  attended,  Dr. 
Shepard  turned  to  him  and  said,  **  Brother  F., 
will  you  lead  us  in  prayer?"  The  young  fellow 
was  so  overcome  by  having  the  senior  member 


ALL  THINGS  TO  ALL  MEN  181 

of  the  mission  address  Mm  as  *' brother '^  that  he 
had  difficulty  in  responding  to  the  request. 

It  was  in  these  little  gatherings  that  the  doc- 
tor's missionary  associates  came  to  know  his 
heart-life  best.  When  it  was  his  turn  to  lead, 
he  seldom  could  get  beyond  the  seventeenth  chap- 
ter of  St.  John.  As  he  spoke  of  that  wonderful 
prayer  of  his  Master  that  they  all  should  be  one, 
**even  as  we  are,''  these  friends  learned  the  true 
secret  of  the  doctor's  life  of  tact  and  sympathy 
and  love. 


TEAGEDIES  OF  THE  WAR 

ONE  of  the  most  significant  events  in  the  Turk- 
ish Empire,  during  the  thirty-three  years  of 
Dr.  Shepard's  service  among  its  peoples,  was  the 
visit  of  the  German  Kaiser,  William  II.,  to  Con- 
stantinople and  Palestine.  This  visit  cemented 
that  friendship  between  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  and 
the  Emperor  of  Germany,  which  bore  such  bitter 
fruit  sixteen  years  later.  Wherever  the  Kaiser 
stepped,  on  that  memorable  tour  of  triumph,  he 
left  the  imprint  of  Kaiserdom.  In  one  of  the  pal- 
ace gardens  of  Constantinople,  a  gaudy  fountain 
was  erected  in  memory  of  that  visit.  In  Abdul 
Hamid's  palace,  a  photograph  of  the  German  im- 
perial family  stood  in  a  golden  frame  set  with 
brilliants,  as  a  token  of  sealed  friendship.  In 
Palestine,  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  of  new 
macadamized  roads  were  built  for  the  Kaiser's 
convenience.  The  breach  in  the  Jerusalem  wall 
torn  down  for  his  triumphal  entry ;  the  portrait  in 

183 


184  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

one  of  the  Jerusalem  cliiirehes  showing  that  entry, 
with  the  Kaiser  decked  out  as  a  crusader,  while 
the  eager  throng  welcomed  him ;  the  faded  wreath 
of  flowers  placed  by  him  at  Saladin's  tomb,  where 
he  made  his  famous  declaration  of  frieiDdship  to- 
ward the  Moslem  world,  **Tell  the  300,000,000 
Moslems  of  the  world  that  I  am  their  friend,'' — all 
these  bore  witness  to  the  purpose  of  his  visit.  At 
the  famous  ruins  of  Baalbec,  in  the  ancient  Tem- 
ple of  the  Sun,  he  placed  an  inscription  in  German 
and  Turkish,  testifying  to  his  unchangeable 
friendship  and  high  regard  for  Abdul  Hamid  and 
his  pleasure  in  visiting  the  ruins. 

From  the  time  of  this  visit,  German  propaganda 
spread  rapidly.  The  Kaiser  was  henceforth 
known  as  Hadji  Wilhelm,  a  term  applied  only  to 
pilgrims  to  Mecca  or  Jerusalem.  Portraits  of  his 
Majesty  were  sold  everywhere,  and  pamphlets 
were  distributed,  showing  that  the  Germans  were 
descendants  of  Mohammed.  In  the  mosques  of 
Syria,  Friday  prayers  were  ended  with  an  invo- 
cation for  the  welfare  of  the  Sultan  and  Hadji 
Willielm. 

Most  significant  of  all,  however,  was  the  con- 
cession granted  to  Germany  for  the  Koniah-Bag- 
dad  railroad.    Thirteen  years  of  German  activity 


TRAGEDIES  OF  THE  WAR  185 

had  passed  since  this  memorable  visit  when  Dr. 
Shepard  wrote  concerning  this  railroad; 

The  Germans  are  finally  pushing  the  Bagdad 
Railroad,  and  it  gives  employment,  at  hitherto 
unheard-of  rates  of  wages,  to  a  great  many  peo- 
ple ;  but  closer  contact  with  the  real  German  does 
not  increase  the  love  of  the  people  for  him.  The 
Germans  are  arrogant  and  selfish,  and  many  of 
them  are  living  on  a  low  moral  plane,  in  every 
respect.  It  is  questionable  whether  their  coming 
will  work  more  good  or  evil  to  the  empire.  But 
one  thing  is  certain,  the  Orient  can  no  longer 
maintain  its  age-long  quiescence,  however  rude 
the  awakening. 

The  awakening  for  Turkey  was  indeed  a  rude 
one.  Sold  to  Germany  by  her  unscrupulous  lead- 
ers, she  was  drawn  into  the  fatal  struggle.  Long 
before  war  was  declared,  a  sealed  call  to  arms 
had  been  sent  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  land.  By  a  mistake  of  the  local  officials, 
one  of  the  government  centers  was  placarded  with 
these  posters  as  soon  as  they  arrived  from  Con- 
stantinople. When  the  mistake  was  discovered, 
police  were  sent  out  in  hot  haste  to  tear  them  all 
down  again. 

War,  which  meant  fear  and  deprivation  in  all 


186  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

lands,  meant  even  more  in  Turkey;  it  spelled 
atrocities,  starvation,  utter  ruin.  In  terse,  vivid 
terms  the  first  effects  of  the  war  felt  in  Aintab 
were  set  forth  thus  in  a  bulletin  issued  from  Cen- 
tral Turkey  College  in  the  summer  of  1914: 

The  new  college  year  is  ready  to  begin,  and 
there  were  51  new  applications  before  the  old 
year  closed,  but  what  changes  a  few  weeks  may 
bring  forth.  Almost  like  a  thunder  clap  out  of 
a  clear  sky  comes  a  telegram,  calling  for  the 
mobilization  of  all  men  between  the  ages  of  18 
and  45.  All  horses  and  wagons  are  seized  for 
the  army.  Martial  law  is  declared.  The  bank 
refuses  to  pay  out  its  deposits.  The  stocks  of 
merchants  are  depleted  by  the  military;  if  pro- 
test is  made,  a  larger  demand  results.  If  stores 
are  closed  to  escape  depredations,  the  govern- 
ment puts  its  seal  on  the  door,  confiscating  every- 
thing. Supplies  of  wheat,  gathered  for  winter 
sustenance,  are  seized  in,  whole  or  in  part  for  the 
army.  Villagers  will  not  come  to  the  city  with 
supplies,  for  fear  their  camels  or  donkeys  will 
be  seized.  Tourists  are  stranded.  Missionaries 
away  on  vacation  cannot  get  back  to  their  homes. 
Mails  are  cut  off.  Telegrams  are  not  delivered, 
except  at  three  times  the  usual  price,  and  even 
then  are  greatly  delayed.  The  wildest  statements 
as  to  the  European  conflict  are  spread  broadcast, 
only  to  be  contradicted  the  next  day.    Conscrip- 


TRAGEDIES  OF  THE  WAR  187 

tion  continues.  Men  are  brought  into  military 
camps  and  must  provide  their  own  subsistence. 
There  are  no  uniforms,  no  guns,  and  very  little 
food  and  water.  Eight  men  of  an  Oorfa  regiment 
die  under  the  hardship  of  the  march.  Horses 
are  tethered  all  day  long  under  a  broiling  sun, 
with  only  one  small  feed  to  sustain  life.  Bullock- 
carts  become  baggage-wagons.  After  repeated 
delays,  orders  come  to  march ;  but  why,  and  where, 
nobody  seems  to  know.  There  is  sorrow  in  the 
city.  The  breadwinners  are  gone  and  the  army 
has  taken  the  bread  as  well.  If  women  and  chil- 
dren are  hungry  now,  in  the  full  harvest  time, 
what  will  it  be  when  winter  comes!  And  if  we, 
on  the  outer  edge  of  the  conflict,  see  such  distress, 
what  must  it  be  on  the  line  of  battle. 

Although  the  college  and  hospital  continued 
work  throughout  that  first  year,  it  was  under  the 
most  trying  circumstances.  Nearly  all  the  native 
physicians  had  been  drafted  into  the  army  so 
that,  although  fewer  patients  came  in  from  a  dis- 
tance, the  work  in  the  city  fell  to  the  hospital  staif 
and  they  had  more  than  they  could  do. 

^*You  cannot  realize,''  the  doctor  wrote,  **the 
grief  and  the  nervous  strain  w^hich  comes  to  the 
physician  obliged  to  refuse,  day  after  day  and 
almost  hour  after  hour,  the  piteous  pleading  of 
mothers  for  their  sick  children,  wives  for  hus- 


188  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

bands,  etc.  You  know  the  Orient, — how  the  poor 
things  grovel  on  the  ground,  kissing  your  feet 
and  begging  for  God's  sake,  Christ's  sake,  your 
children's  sake.  The  number  of  operations  has 
been  considerably  less  than  usual,  but  the  number 
of  patients  seen  at  the  clinic  and  in  their  homes  is 
much  larger;  over  6000  in  the  clinic,  nearly  2000 
in  their  homes,  and  about  800  pay  patients,  mak- 
ing in  the  neighborhood  of  9000  patients  for  the 
year." 

The  hospital  supplies  and  medicines  were  fast 
being  used  up  and  no  new  shipments  could  come 
in,  because  of  the  lack  of  transportation.  Thirty 
cases  of  medicines  on  their  way  were  requisitioned 
by  the  government  in  Alexandretta,  and  a  large 
shipment  could  not  get  beyond  Egypt. 

Because  of  the  war  conditions  described  in  the 
bulletin,  famine  stared  the  people  in  the  face. 
Again  the  hospital  soup-kitchen  came  to  the  rescue 
of  hundreds  of  poor  sick  people ;  and,  through  a 
special  gift  from  Mrs.  Shepard's  sister.  Miss  An- 
drews, and  contributions  from  other  friends, 
12,000  meals  of  milk  and  biscuit,  or  soup  and 
bread,  were  served  during  the  winter. 

Though  the  doctor's  heart  was  sore  with  the 
suffering  of  the  people,  it  was  yet  more  bur- 


TRAGEDIES  OF  THE  WAR  189 

dened  with  the  deeper  tragedy  of  the  war.  ^ '  The 
awful  failure  of  Christianity  in  Europe,  *'  he 
wrote,  ^*  fills  my  heart  with  sadness.  The  fact  that 
so  large  a  proportion  of  the  ^Christian  world'  can 
find  in  its  conscience  a  sanction  for  war,  some- 
how makes  upon  my  mind  a  sadder  and  darker 
shadow  than  even  the  picture  of  all  the  untold, 
unspeakable  distress  of  innocent  women  and  chil- 
dren, all  bereaved  fathers  and  mothers,  all  the 
terrible  waste  of  slowly-accumulated  capital,  all 
the  set-backs  of  scientific  and  social  progress. 
Will  the  so-called  *  Christian  world'  ever  come  to 
believe  that  Christ  meant  what  he  said  about  lov- 
ing one's  neighbor  as  one's  self?  Will  it  ever 
accept,  without  a  heavy  discount,  that  wonderful 
chapter,  I  Cor.,  XIII." 

Meanwhile,  the  storm  clouds  were  gathering 
more  thickly  in  the  north.  When  a  representative 
council  of  Armenians,  in  the  city  of  Erzerum,  re- 
fused to  join  the  Turks  in  their  fight  against  the 
Allies,  the  Germans  and  Turks  united  in  a  cam- 
paign of  frightfulness  against  innocent  Arme- 
nians generally.  It  included  imprisonment,  tor- 
ture, and  cold-blooded  murder  of  the  men,  de- 
portation of  the  women  and  children,  sent  out 
at  an  hour's  notice  from  their  homes,  to  wander 


190  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

over  desert  paths,  robbed  of  food  and  clothing, 
until  those  who  were  not  actually  butchered  died 
of  thirst,  starvation,  and  disease.  Never  was  a 
more  tragic  page  of  history  written  in  the  blood 
of  the  innocent.  Not  even  the  horrors  of  the 
Spanish  Inquisition  or  the  brutalities  of  Nero  can 
compare  with  what  these  Christian  people  suf- 
fered at  the  instigation  of  a  '^Christian  people.'^ 
Never  was  death  more  steadfastly  met  than  by 
the  martyrs  of  this  martyr  nation;  never  were 
known  more  thrilling  deeds  of  heroism  than  those 
by  which  the  few  survivors  saved  their  lives; 
never  was  there  a  race  who  could  face  the  future 
with  so  brave  a  front  after  so  crushing  a  calamity. 

*  *  Give  the  Armenian  twenty  years  after  a  mas- 
sacre,'' was  the  common  saying  among  the  Turks, 
^^and  he  is  ready  for  another,''  so  quickly  did  he 
recover,  through  thrift  and  industry,  his  lost  pros- 
perity. 

When  the  wave  of  deportation  had  reached,  and 
swept  over,  the  neighboring  towns  and  was  threat- 
ening Aintab,  Dr.  Shepard  made  a  strong  appeal 
to  the  Vali  [Governor  General]  of  the  province 
of  Aleppo,  and  this  official,  who  was  a  righteous 
man,  firmly  prevented  the  action  being  carried  out. 

Another  righteous  man  of  another  town  re- 


TRAGEDIES  OF  THE  WAR  191 

fused  to  send  out  the  innocent  people  of  his  city, 
saying,  ^'You  may  deport  me  and  my  family,  if 
you  will,  but  I  will  not  carry  out  these  orders/' 
He  was  soon  removed  from  his  post.  The  right- 
eous Vali  of  Aleppo,  too,  was  sent  away,  and  the 
fiendish  work  ordered  by  the  ^'Christian  nation'' 
still  went  on. 

At  first,  only  the  members  of  the  old  Gregorian 
church,  which  was  recognized  as  the  Armenian 
National  Church,  were  sent  away;  then  the  Prot- 
estant community  was  attacked.  In  this  commun- 
ity were  many  of  Dr.  Shepard's  closest  friends, 
professors  and  teachers,  pastors  and  church  mem- 
bers, with  whom  he  had  worked  many  a  year, 
shoulder  to  shoulder,  for  their  common  Master. 
Having  failed  in  his  efforts  to  save  all,  and  broken- 
hearted at  the  thought  of  this  final  tragedy.  Dr. 
Shepard  started  for  Aleppo  to  make  one  last  ap- 
peal. Nothing  could  be  accomplished  there. 
''The  orders  were  from  higher  up.''  So  the  doc- 
tor decided  to  take  his  appeal  higher,  and  set 
out  on  the  long  journey  to  Constantinople.  Five 
days  later  he  wrote  that  the  Imperial  Government 
had  graciously  granted  immunity  from  deporta- 
tion to  the  Protestant  and  Catholic  Armenians. 
While  in  Constantinople,  he  yielded  to  the  plea 


192  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

for  his  assistance  in  the  Eed  Cross  hospital  of 
Tash  Kushla,  which  was  full  of  wounded  Turkish 
soldiers;  for  the  Gallipoli  campaign  was  at  its 
height.  For  the  next  two  months,  with  heavy 
heart  but  brave,  in  the  spirit  of  his  Master,  he 
threw  himself  into  the  work  of  caring  for  the 
soldiers  of  the  nation  that  was  persecuting  the 
Christian  friends  whom  he  could  not  save. 

The  doctor  thus  briefly  described  his  work  in 
the  Tash  Kushla  hospital: 

I  begin  my  rounds  of  the  wards  at  8:30  a.m. 
I  visit  the  200-225  patients  in  my  wards,  writing 
on  the  chart  of  each  whether  his  wound  is  to  be 
dressed,  what  diet  he  is  to  have,  his  medicine, 
if  any,  etc.  Then  I  go  to  the  dressing-room  where 
my  assistants  (one  young  doctor  and  four  nurses) 
have  saved  up  any  cases  needing  my  advice,  and 
any  new  cases  for  diagnosis ;  and  we  are  generally 
through  with  them  all  by  half  past  twelve,  and 
go  to  lunch  at  the  French  hospital,  a  five  minutes' 
walk  away.  Then  in  the  afternoon  we  do  any 
operations  needed. 

Of  the  Turkish  soldiers,  the  doctor  wrote, 
'^They  make  the  best  of  patients,  having  fine 
courage  and  endurance.  They  are  patient  and 
grateful  fellows,  for  the  most  part.'' 


TRAGEDIES  OF  THE  WAR  193 

While  Dr.  Shepard  was  caring  for  the  wounded 
soldiers  in  Constantinople,  things  were  moving 
fast  toward  the  final  tragedy  in  Aintab.  One  day, 
late  in  August,  word  came  to  Dr.  Hamilton  at  the 
hospital,  which  was  closed  as  usual  for  the  sum- 
mer, that  1200  Armenian  exiles,  from  a  town  nine 
days*  journey  to  the  north,  had  just  been  brought 
to  the  deportation  camp  outside  the  city,  and  that 
they  needed  the  services  of  a  doctor.  Dr.  Ham- 
ilton immediately  asked  permission  to  go  with 
her  nurses  to  the  camp  to  care  for  these  poor 
people.  Three  months  they  had  been  kept  walk- 
ing, over  mountain  and  valley  and  plain,  to  cover 
what  was  really  a  nine  days*  journey.  Just  be- 
fore starting  out,  they  had  paid  a  heavy  blackmail 
to  their  Turkish  guards  to  protect  them,  on  their 
journey,  from  the  wild  Kurds.  When  they 
reached  the  mountains,  part  of  this  money  was 
basely  used  by  the  guards  to  hire  the  wild  Kurds 
to  attack  those  who  had  paid  them  so  heavily 
for  protection.  The  work  they  had  done  was 
ghastly,  and  twenty-five  of  the  victims  were  in 
such  shape  that  Dr.  Hamilton  felt  obliged  to  open 
the  hospital  and  take  them  in.  The  hospital, 
however,  had  been  promised  for  Eed  Cross  service 
in  the  fall,  so  two  weeks  later  these  poor  exiles 


194  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

had  to  be  moved  to  the  hostel,  while  the  wards 
were  filled  with  Turkish  soldiers.  The  worst  eases 
were  sent  to  the  American  hospital.  The  soldiers 
were  grateful  beyond  measure  for  the  care  they 
received.  The  American  hospital,  with  its  clean- 
liness and  order,  was  a  paradise  to  them,  after 
the  unspeakable  filth  of  their  own  barracks  and 
hospitals. 

In  October,  Dr.  Shepard  returned  from  Con- 
stantinople to  take  charge  of  his  own  hospital, 
now  under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Eed 
CrQss,  bringing  with  him  eight  bales  of  supplies 
and  medicines  to  replenish  the  depleted  stock.  On 
his  arrival  in  Aintab,  he  found,  to  his  grief,  that 
the  immunity  from  deportation,  which  the  Imperial 
Government  had  so  graciously  granted  to  Protes- 
tant and  Catholic  Armenians,  was  but  a  camou- 
flage immunity.  Several  of  the  college  professors 
and  their  families  had  already  been  deported, 
the  young  men  had  been  scattered  and  killed,  and 
no  hope  was  left  of  re-opening  the  college  that 
fall. 

A  few  days  later,  word  came  from  Oorfa  of 
the  death  of  the  only  American  missionary  in 
that  city,  and  Dr.  Shepard  mounted  his  good 
horse  and  started  over  the  road  he  had  so  often 


TRAGEDIES  OF  THE  WAR  195 

traveled  in  brighter  days  at  some  urgent  call. 
When  he  arrived  there,  he  found  the  Armenian 
quarter  of  the  city  in  ruins.  When  the  order 
came  for  the  deportation  of  Armenians  in  Oorfa, 
knowing  what  had  befallen  other  exiles,  they  had 
refused  to  leave  their  homes,  saying  they  pre- 
ferred death  there  to  the  slow  torture  and  horrors 
of  the  road.  For  several  days  they  had  bravely 
defended  themselves,  until  the  Turks  had  placed 
field-guns  on  the  opposite  hill  and  had  blo^vn  the 
place  to  pieces.  Out  of  five  thousand  houses, 
only  forty  were  left  untouched. 

Then  it  was  that  the  brave  spirit,  who  had  so 
often  risked  his  own  life  to  save  one  of  these 
thousands  who  were  being  done  to  death,  cried 
out  in  anguish,  '*My  heart  is  broken,  I  can  bear 
the  burdens  of  Turkey  no  longer." 

How  different  was  the  Thanksgiving  Day  in 
Aintab  that  year  from  the  happy  festivals  of  the 
years  that  had  gone  before.  There  was  a  little 
gathering  at  the  college  for  the  few  students  who 
still  found  refuge  there.  After  the  simple  meal, 
when  the  doctor  was  called  upon  to  speak,  he  could 
not  find  it  in  his  heart  to  say  aught  but  words 
befitting  the  tragedies  of  the  hour. 

**Our  hearts  are  burdened  with  all  we  have 


196  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

seen/'  lie  concluded.     ^'I  shall  be  very  glad  if 
the  Lord  shall  see  fit  to  call  me  home. ' ' 

"Within  a  few  weeks  the  **call  home''  came, 
while  the  brave  doctor  was  still  serving  the  peo- 
ple, the  sight  of  whose  sufferings,  with  no  power 
to  save,  had  broken  that  great,  tender,  compas- 
sionate heart. 

In  some  half-built  houses  beyond  the  college 
campus  were  herded  hundreds  of  miserable  exiles, 
with  no  bedding  and  no  food,  all  of  them  alive 
with  ^  *  cooties ' '  and  infected  with  typhus.  Every 
other  day,  Dr.  Hamilton  went  among  these  suf- 
ferers, giving  what  help  she  could,  until  she  fell 
ill.  After  his  return  from  Oorfa,  Dr.  Shepard 
took  up  the  heart-rending  task,  and  in  spite  of 
every  precaution,  he,  too,  fell  a  victim  to  the  dread 
disease.  When  first  he  began  to  feel  ill,  he,  as 
always,  sought  relief  in  a  trip  after  partridges 
in  the  hunting-ground  where  he  had  so  often  re- 
gained vigor  for  another  term  of  work.  Then, 
as  he  realized  what  the  disease  was,  with  brave 
heart  he  said,  '*If  the  Lord  spare  me,  I  shall  be 
immune  to  fight  the  epidemic  which  is  sure  to 
follow  in  the  winter.''  On  the  fourth  day  he 
mounted  his  horse  and  rode  to  the  hospital  to  see 
Dr.  Hamilton,  who  lay  near  death's  door  with 


TRAGEDIES  OF  THE  WAR  19T 

the  same  disease.  **Well,  ^Richard's  himself 
again ^  when  he  gets  on  his  horse,''  he  smiled  as 
he  swung  into  the  saddle.  On  his  return  from 
the  hospital,  Dr.  Shepard  went  to  see  the  college 
students  who  were  sick  with  typhus  in  the  dor- 
mitory. This  was  the  last  service  rendered  by 
the  great-hearted  man. 

Nine  days  later,  the  Beloved  Physician  entered 
into  rest.  After  he  became  unconscious,  a  cordon 
of  soldiers  was  placed  between  the  college  and 
the  city,  and  the  final  deportations  of  all  the 
Armenians  began.  The  great  tragedy  had  come ; 
but  the  broken  heart  had  passed  beyond  the  veil 
and  was  at  rest.  A  beautiful  smile  passed  over 
his  face  at  the  last  moment  and  lingered  there. 

^^I  have  never  seen  Jesus,''  said  a  poor  Arme- 
nian, "but  I  have  seen  Dr.  Shepard." 

And  one  of  his  missionary  associates  wrote,  "I 
instinctively  think  of  the  Master  when  I  think 
of  Dr.  Shepard." 

There  was  a  simple  little  service  at  the  cemetery 
in  one  corner  of  the  college  campus,  where  sev- 
eral of  the  doctor's  missionary  friends  had  been 
laid  to  rest.  The  college  students  begged  the 
privilege  of  bearing  the  casket.  So  troubled  were 
the  times  that  only  a  small  group  of  representa- 


198  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

tive  men  were  sent  by  the  government  to  pay 
tribute  to  the  life  that  had  been  poured  out  for 
their  country,  and  but  a  few  of  the  hospital  work- 
ers and  other  Armenian  friends  could  come,  by 
special  permit,  to  offer  their  last  token  of  love 
to  the  Beloved  Physician. 

*^I  cannot  think  of  him  as  sympathizing  with 
us  as  we  mourn  the  loss  of  his  earthly  presence," 
wrote  a  missionary  friend,  ^^  because  he  was  of 
heroic  mold  and  would  have  us  always  do  as  he 
himself  always  sought  to  do, — meet  the  day's 
experiences  with  stout  hearts  and  firm  faith  in  the 
loving  providences  of  God." 

One  day,  some  weeks  after,  Mahmoud  Agha,  the 
Kurdish  friend,  appeared  at  the  college  gate,  rid- 
ing his  old  white  mare.  Leaving  her  there,  he 
walked  alone  to  the  little  cemetery  and,  standing 
with  folded  arms,  gazed  long  at  the  mound  be- 
neath which  his  friend  lay,  while  great  sighs 
shook  his  frame.    Then  silently  he  turned  away. 


POSTLUDE 

THE  chapel  was  full.  Almost  every  seat  was 
taken.  Many  of  the  people  had  never  be- 
fore seen  a  missionary  starting  ont  on  his  jour- 
ney. There  were  special  circumstances  on  this 
occasion.  The  young  man  and  his  wife  were  go- 
ing to  take  the  place  of  the  father  who  fell  at  his 
post,  of  the  disease  he  had  been  fighting.  His 
mother  was  present  at  the  service,  just  arrived, 
after  four  years  of  horror,  including  massacre, 
deportation,  and  disease  in  Turkey.  What  must 
have  been  her  thoughts  as  her  son  stepped  for- 
ward to  take  the  place  of  the  father  who  had 
fallen  in  action! 

The  surpliced  choir  sang  an  anthem  of  tri- 
umph. The  sermon  of  the  evening  dwelt  on  the 
glory  of  a  life  invested  where  it  brings  great 
returns.  Contrast  was  drawn  between  the  first 
efforts  of  a  hundred  years  ago  and  the  present. 

The  beautiful  words  of  personal  greeting  were 
spoken  by  the  pastor,  and  then  the  two  young 
missionaries  made  reply  in  words  of  simplicity, 

199 


200  SHEPARD  OF  AINTAB 

of  deep  spiritual  truth,  and  of  heroism.  The 
wife  said:  *^Our  hearts  are  full  to-night,  too  full 
for  expression.  We  go  to  represent  all  of  you, 
and  we  can.  only  promise  you  that  we  will  do  our 
best.'' 

The  doctor-husband  added  thoughts  like  these : 
**We  are  glad  to  be  starting  for  Turkey.  It  is 
not  a  great  thing  to  do.  The  rich  life  of  my 
father  is  one  to  beckon,  not  to  dete^.  Suppose 
that  one  does  lay  down  a  life  in  such  service  in 
the  future,  distant  or  near,  what  of  it?  It  is  the 
spirit  of  the  hour.  Any  man  unwilling  to  die 
for  the  Cause  he  fights  for  is  unfitted  to  live  for 
any  Cause,  Thousands  of  men  have  died  for  our 
country  and  for  the  world.  Surely,  we  all  must 
be  more  than  willing  to  die,  if  need  be,  for  this 
cause  of  righteousness,  this  multiplying  of  Christ 
throughout  the  earth.  Should  we  count  it  hard 
or  seek  to  avoid  so  plain  and  clear  an  issue? 
Spiritual  investment  of  life  awaits  us  out  there, 
and  we  shall  count  upon  this  church  to  back  us 
up,  while  we  go  to  prove  the  promises  and  the 
power  of  Christ." 


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